Running For Your Life Down Memory Lane
by The Tin Dogs Bollocks
Summary: It's been eight years since Elliott Nixon graduated from Bullworth Academy. Her life isn't what you would call perfect, but she's getting there. At least she was, until an old face turns up to bring everything to a grinding halt.
1. The Future Is What You Make Of It

**A/N:** So here's the sequel to 'It's A Long Fall From Cloud Nine', and no, it wasn't a very long wait for it lol. You can read it without reading the first story as things will be explained as it goes along, but it'll make more sense if you have read the other story. It's a bit more serious aswell, but that's to be expected taking that it's set about 10 years in the future lol. And the first chapter is very sweary, so be warned, but it isn't going to be like that in every chapter. My brain isn't working very well right now, so I guess that's all I have to say. That and I hope you enjoy this one as much as the last one! :D

And I don't own Bully (which sucks because then I'd be rich and I could act like Derby) but I DO own Elliott Nixon. She's locked up nice and securely in my brainbox, and I'll notice if she goes missing. So thar. :P

**Synopsis:** Eleven years have passed since Gary Smith was expelled from Bullworth and Elliott Nixon discovered she was pregnant. Things aren't exactly perfect; she works two jobs to support herself and her ten year old son Reese, but help from her on/off boyfriend keeps things relatively bearable. At least they are until a familiar face shows up to throw a spanner in the works.

**Characters: **Elliott Nixon (OC), Reese Nixon (OC), Jimmy Hopkins, Johnny Vincent, Peanut, Gary Smith.

**Rating:** T (for violence and swearing)

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**Running For Your Life Down Memory Lane**

**Chapter One**

**The Future Is What You Make Of It**

'You call that scrubbing?' Maurice Johansson bellowed, slinging a washcloth into the sink and causing soapy water to splash everywhere. 'You're supposed to be washing the dishes, not fucking polishing every single fucking one of them. What am I supposed to serve the fucking food on while you're pissing about in here, my hands? You want me to sit in front of all those sorry bastards with my hands out so they can nibble their fucking shit right out of my palms? Then maybe they can wipe their mouths on my tie, huh?'

It's awful when you realise that life isn't all it cracked up to be. Every single person is hit with this realisation at some point in their lives, usually when they hit their mid twenties. You spend most of your youth dreaming elaborate scenarios of living in a big house, away from the fascist-like rule of your parents and doing whatever you like. You don't seem to take time to contemplate things like where exactly you're going to get the money to pay for this wonderful big house full of your equally wonderful grown up friends. You don't worry about the menial things like getting a job, or paying taxes, or whether or not the trash collectors come on Monday morning or Tuesday lunchtime. You don't worry about which gas company offers the best deal. You don't worry about the steady pile of bills that will more than likely accumulate on the coffee table. It's when you're suddenly faced with all these bewildering problems that you stop and realise that someone has been tricking you into thinking that life is some huge, fantastic adventure filled with rewards and luxuries. When put into practice you realise it's nothing but a giant, swollen pregnant red herring that is ready to give birth to dozens more of these boring and nasty surprises as you grow older.

In other words, it's a big frigging disappointment. And Maurice Johansson was currently in the middle of reminding Elliott Nixon of that fact. Not that she needed reminding.

'Maybe you can help me, huh?' Maurice went on. Spots of white foam were gathering on his thick lips, the way it did when he was getting worked up. His grey hair, which was usually slicked back, was beginning to stick up a little above his ears, giving the illusion of horns. 'Yeah, the pair of us will go out there with the fucking food on our hands and be the plates, huh? Maybe I can lie on the table and keep the fucking fish sauce in my hairy fucking bellybutton, huh?'

'I'll go quicker, Mr Johansson.' Elliott told him through clenched teeth. Another horrible thing about life; sometimes you had to be nice to bastards like Maurice Johansson.

'Damn right you'll go faster,' Maurice barked. 'You'll go faster than a fat fucking bastard up a chocolate tree if you want to keep your job.'

Elliott slipped another plate onto the already giant pile of washed plates. She kept her mouth shut. If she said something else it would probably be loud and incomprehensible anyway, and it would probably end with her smashing one of the plates over his head. Maybe even all of them.

'Good girl.' He growled, and then stormed out of the washroom, allowing the door to slam noisily behind him.

Elliott exhaled slowly out of her nostrils. If someone had told her twelve years ago that she would be working as a dishwasher in a fish restaurant at the age of twenty six she would have laughed for weeks. No way, Hozay. She was going to do something meaningful with her life. Go to college. Hopefully university. Get a degree and all that stuff. She had been confident that that was the way her life was going to go. So confident in fact, that she hadn't prepared herself for the grim reality that she _was_ going to be washing dishes in a fish restaurant at the age of twenty five. In fact, she had been washing dishes in a fish restaurant for nearly six years now. Although it wasn't the dish washing that had made her realise life wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Elliott had discovered a long time ago. Ten years ago, to be exact. Roughly when she was about fifteen years old.

A tapping at the window pulled her from her dismal thoughts and she glanced over her shoulder, expecting to see one of the local kids pulling a face or making some rude gesture at her. At the familiar but very bloodied face that peered in at her she blinked, and then exhaled heavily. The young boy on the other side just turned both his palms up and shrugged. Elliott pulled off her rubber gloves and moved to the back door, hauling it open angrily.

'What the hell have you been doing, Reese?' she demanded, keeping her voice low in case Maurice was still creeping around somewhere. 'Look at your face! You look like you've been in a frigging horror movie.'

The young boy came in through the open door and poked at his nose. Most of the blood had dried now, but there was still a film of tacky red liquid covering both his nostrils. There was dried blood smeared on his forehead and cheek from where he had wiped his face, and the front of his dark brown hair was matted with it.

'It wasn't my fault,' Reese insisted, dark eyebrows drawn together. 'It was those stupid kids from Blue Skies. Me and Tommy Jackson were out playing on the Tenements site when two of them came and started calling us names. One of them threw a brick at Tommy, so I threw one back and hit one of them in the head and…'

Elliott led him to the sink and pulled a clean cloth from underneath it. 'Put your head back, Reese,' she ordered. She wet the cloth and began to dab at his nose. 'So you got hit with a brick, did you? What have I told you about messing around on that pile of rubble? The Tenements was bad enough even _before_ they pulled it down.'

'I didn't get hit with a brick,' Reese insisted, sounding nasal. 'I got one of them and they ran off. So me and Tommy went around to Yum Yums to get some soda…'

'You're lucky this isn't broken…' Elliott muttered irritably.

'And when we were coming out those kids had brought a bigger kid around. He hit me right in the face and he was going to totally lay into me but a cop saw and chased them away. They said they weren't done with us and I told them that I know bigger people than they do but they still said they were going to come for us and-'

Elliott shook her head. 'Reese, how many times? You wind those kids up and they'll just keep coming and coming. You can't keep scrapping with them all the time.'

Reese pouted sulkily. 'Jimmy used to do it.'

She felt a pang of annoyance. 'Well Jimmy's not your mother, is he? _I_ am. And _I'm_ telling you that you can't go around fighting with everyone who looks at you funny.'

'I just don't like what they say.'

She cleaned the last of the blood from his face and dumped the cloth in the bin. 'I know, honey, but you can't keep doing this. One of these days there's going to be no one to help you out when you get into a fight. The last thing I want is to get a phone call from the hospital because you got into a stupid fight with those idiot kids. You need to stop it; I can't deal with the stress. I've got to work two jobs you know.'

'I know.' Reese mumbled, poking at his nose.

'And you're not getting a bit of sympathy from me because you were supposed to be at school.' Elliott frowned. 'You think I don't know that it's only four o'clock? There's no way you could have gotten from school to the Tenements site and then to Yum Yums and then _here_ in half an hour.'

Reese frowned, embarrassed that he had been sussed. 'I have been to school. We got let out early because-'

'Stop poking at your nose. It'll start bleeding again. Now go on home, I'll deal with you when I get back.'

The door opened suddenly. Elliott glanced around, already knowing that she would see Maurice standing there. And there he was, looking from Elliott to Reese furiously.

'What the hell is this?' he demanded.

Elliott rubbed her forehead. 'Mr Johansson, this is my son. He had a bit of trouble at school-'

'Look at the fucking state of him,' Maurice snarled. 'I can't be having dirty New Coventry scum in my restaurant! It's unhygienic!'

Elliott felt a warmth rush over her and her jaw clenched painfully. 'Mr Johansson-' she started.

'Oh, so now you want me to serve food on fucking dirty bloodstained plates, huh? I don't give a shit what filth you eat off in your own squalor, but I'm not having my paying customers catching fuck knows what off your vermin offspring. Get him the hell out of here and get back to work.'

Elliott stared at him for a moment, and then calmly walked past him. He only watched her, bewildered that she wasn't doing what he was telling her to. Still in a stunned silence, he followed her through to the locker room, staring at her like her head had just fallen off and she was still running around. She calmly reached into her locker, removed her bag and coat, and headed back into the kitchen.

'Come on, Reese.' She said. 'We're leaving.'

Maurice was finally roused from his stupor. '_What_?' he shrieked. 'You're not going anywhere! There are still all those dishes! You don't finish until six!'

'I quit.' Elliott told him, opening the back door.

'_What_?! You _can't_ fucking quit!'

'Watch me.' She replied, and began to usher Reese outside.

'You can't quit!' Maurice bellowed. 'Because you're _fired_! I'm going to make sure you never work in the Vale again, you bitch! Get back to the fucking slums where you belong! And take your vermin son with you! Ungrateful cow!'

'Say goodbye to Mr Johansson, Reese.' Elliott said in response.

Reese smirked. 'Bye, you fat bastard.'

Maurice took a step forward. 'Why you little-'

Elliott shoved Reese out of the door, shot her ex-boss one last glare, and then slammed the back door shut behind her. She pulled on her coat, secured her bag on her shoulder, and then began to make her way out onto the street.

'You should have totally told him where to go, mom,' Reese sniggered, jogging to catch up with her long strides. 'You should have at least thrown the washcloth at him. Maybe squirt some washing up liquid in his face-'

Elliott stopped and looked at him angrily. 'You think that was funny?' she demanded. 'I've just lost my job, Reese. What the hell do you think we're going to do now? How am I supposed to pay the rent with that measly pay from the café? There's no way.' She shook her head, exhaling loudly and continued walking. A few passing people glanced disapprovingly at Reese's bloody shirt, but that was to be expected in Bullworth Vale. They would probably look at him that way even if he weren't bloodstained.

He caught up with her again and walked quickly beside her with his head down and hands buried in his pockets. 'Sorry, mom.' He mumbled.

Elliott sighed and slowed her pace down. She put an arm around his shoulder and squeezed him briefly as they walked. 'It's not your fault. I've been wanting to get out of that job for ages anyway. You just gave me an excuse.' She gritted her teeth when she thought about what Maurice had said. 'That man is a complete bastard.'

'And I'm sorry I swore.' Reese told her.

'So am I.' Elliott replied. 'Don't worry about it.' She offered him a smile as they crossed the road to the bus stop. 'How about I make you some lasagne for dinner, huh? You like that don't you?'

Reese beamed at her. 'Sure! Will Jimmy be coming over?'

Elliott glanced away briefly, her smile fading a little. 'He might be.' She replied. 'But if he does, will you not tell him about me losing my job?'

'Why?'

'Because… well, Uncle Jimmy probably won't be very happy about it. You know how he gets.'

'He'll go down and beat the crap out of that fat bastard,' Reese nodded. 'He should. I'd help him.'

'Reese,' Elliott frowned disapprovingly. 'Stop with the potty mouth. The opportunity for free swearing has passed.'

'Sorry, mom.' Reese fell quiet for a moment while Elliott raked in her bag for her purse. 'Why don't you just borrow some money from Uncle Jimmy? He's always telling you to.'

Elliott sighed. 'I don't like taking things from him.'

'Well, maybe I could work in the garage with him and Johnny and Peanut. That would make some money, yeah? Then maybe you won't have to get another job.'

Elliott glanced to him. He was bright and considerate for a ten year old, but that didn't stop him from having a rough streak. Although that was probably due to being brought up in New Coventry. You had to be tough to live there. He was also quite tall for his age, just a little shorter than Elliott. Handsome too, with blue eyes and straight brown hair, which was currently in need of a cut. It was beginning to flop over his eyes a little. Already she could tell he was going to grow into a tall, handsome young man. She reached out and pushed his hair from his eyes.

'You're too young to work, Reese.' She told him, slightly amused. 'Jimmy won't want you hanging around all the time.'

He eyed her for a moment. 'Mom, why don't you like Jimmy?'

She blinked, and then returned her attention to looking for her purse. 'It's not that I don't like him, Reese.' She sighed. 'You know I like your Uncle Jimmy. It's just… I don't like to take things from him. It's not his responsibility to look after us, is it?'

'No,' Reese agreed. 'Should be my dad.'

Elliott stopped rummaging and closed her eyes. She took a moment, and then continued searching. 'Where's my purse?' she murmured.

'Why didn't my dad stick around?' Reese asked.

'He… It was a long time ago. He couldn't.'

'Did he not want to?'

Elliott looked up to him with a forced smile, trying to hide the effect that the subject was having on her. 'Hey, how about we skip the bus and use the fare to get some ice cream for after dinner?'

Reese's eyes lit up. 'Yeah!' he grinned.

Elliott nodded, knowing that now the subject had been well and truly put off for another day. She slipped her arm through his and they began walking along the seafront. He began to chatter away about the cool stuff he and Tommy Jackson had found in the Tenements site, but Elliott was only half listening. She knew she couldn't put off the subject of his father for much longer. Even after ten years it was a hard thing to think about, let alone talk about, but the time was coming to tell him.

For now though, it could be put off for another day.


	2. Quite Comfortable In This Rut

**Chapter Two**

**Quite Comfortable In This Rut**

The city is hard to get used to. Even when you've been living there for eight years you're still overwhelmed by the sheer size and the amount of people on the streets. Especially when you lived most of your life in a small town where pretty much everyone knew each other. And it's probably the same the other way around; to the city-dwellers small towns just conjure up images of hillbillies and summer fetes. Boring, in other words.

The truth was everywhere was boring. It wasn't the place that made somewhere interesting, it was the people, and the people in the city were unbearable.

But then again, Gary Smith had never been a people person.

He sat in his tiny, one room apartment on the seventh floor, with his feet up on a dented coffee table and the blinds drawn. The room was crampt even though he only had five pieces of furniture, a fridge, a single bed, a raggy armchair, a coffee table and a small TV. It was dark and dingy, but neat. Over the years his ADD had turned into more of an OCD, which meant he spend a lot of his time meticulously folding the few clothes he had, and making sure his toothpaste tube lined up parallel to his toothbrush. Weird stuff like that. He knew it was weird, and he absolutely hated the fact he did it, but he couldn't help it. Anyway, it wasn't like he had anything else to fill his time with.

He sucked mindlessly on his cigarette, closing one eye against the swirling smoke, and watched the plastic-looking newsreader ramble on about the state of the economy. He was just passing the time really. In an hour he would have to leave for work, which was a building site about three blocks from his apartment. He was just a grunt; hauling bricks and rubble back and forth for the builders. It was hard work, but he got paid. Not a lot, but enough to pay his rent.

His life had been this way since he was released from Sunnyside Hospice when he was eighteen. Well, released wasn't the right term. He checked himself out as soon as he had been old enough. He had spent two and a half years being packed full of different medications, poked and prodded by doctors who wanted to 'make him better', when in reality they had just sucked out his will to live. He probably would have gotten over his insane attitudes with a decent counsellor, but instead they had turned him into the flat, depressed, motiveless man he was today. And if that wasn't bad enough he couldn't even get up in the morning without taking two uppers and could only settle down at night with a couple of downers.

Loser addict. If he had met himself eleven years ago, he probably would have tortured himself. No way would that Gary accept that he would grow up to be like this. Not in a million years.

But then again that was a long time ago. A lot can change in ten years.

Gary stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and reached for another, put found the box empty. He stared at it for a moment, tensing his jaw, and then pushed himself out of his seat. He knew he had just enough change for another pack. If he watched this idiot newsreader for a minute longer he might just hang himself anyway. He grabbed his jacket, which was hanging up behind the door, and then headed out. He didn't bother to lock the door. It wasn't like he had anything worth stealing anyway.

It was too bright for him outside, and there were too many people. He felt dizzy at the speed they passed him by, so he just lowered his head and walked quickly. The store was only a few doors away from his apartment, so he was there in a few minutes. The guy who worked there handed Gary his cigarettes without being told and Gary paid him. The exchange was silent, as always.

When he was back on the street, he stopped to open the packet and take a cigarette out. He stuck his hand in his pocket for his lighter, and then remembered that he had left it on the coffee table. He cursed lightly. Brilliant.

Gary knew if he went back to the apartment he would just end up back in that chair, staring blankly at the TV while he smoked through this new packet. If he did that for another day he would end up killing himself, he knew he would. There was only so long a person can spend wallowing in self-pity before they completely snapped. He glanced up and down the street, and then stopped the nearest person.

'Hey, pal,' he said to the smartly groomed, red haired man. 'You got a light?'

The man was about his age, and turned and looked at Gary. He started to say no, but then he frowned vaguely. At the same time Gary frowned. The man was familiar, but he couldn't quite place him. It looked like the man was having the exact same problem.

'Ho-ly crap!' he cried suddenly, with the unmistakable voice of Wade Martin. 'Gary Smith?'

Gary blinked. 'Wade?'

Wade laughed and patted Gary on the arm. 'How've you been, man? Hell it's been a long time, huh? Ten years?'

Gary rubbed the back of his head. 'Um, something like that…' he replied.

Wade laughed. It was confusing; he sounded like Wade Martin, but he looked completely different. His hair was perfectly cut in a short and neat way, and he was dressed in a pristine black suit. In his hand he carried a black leather briefcase. There was no way this smart guy was the same thick skulled bully from Bullworth.

'So how are you?' Wade asked, patting him on the arm again.

'Been better.' Gary shrugged. Well, it was the truth.

Wade just nodded. 'Yeah, yeah, I bet.' He actually looked ecstatic to have bumped into Gary, which only confused him all the more. 'Man, you're the first person I've seen from Bullworth in about seven years. I was starting to think everyone had died.'

Gary stopped himself from saying that probably would have been for the best. The last thing he wanted was to get into a lengthy conversation with Wade Martin about Bullworth Academy. That wasn't exactly his favourite topic these days. 'Yeah, well it's good to see you, Wade,' Gary said. 'But I'm actually on-'

'I think a lot of them are still in Bullworth,' Wade went on, ignoring him. 'Apart from the Preps. Ha, it's weird calling them that now. I know Derby is running for congress, did you see him on the news? Guy has barely changed. And whoo-wee his wife is _hot_.'

Gary blinked. 'I didn't see.' He admitted. He also wanted to admit that he didn't give a damn what anyone from that stupid school was doing now.

'Yeah well what else could you expect from a guy like him, huh?' Wade smirked. 'Russell is a cop now, you know? In Bullworth. Apparently he's the best cop they've ever had. He got an award and everything.'

Gary nodded distractedly. 'Great. I really have to get going…'

'Jimmy Hopkins is still there too,' Wade went on. 'He runs a garage with Johnny Vincent and Peanut. Last time I was in town they serviced my car for free. Good bunch of guys they are…' He noticed the way Gary had looked away awkwardly. 'Oh man, you probably don't want to hear about Jimmy Hopkins, huh? Sorry, man. I didn't think.'

Gary just shrugged. 'It was a long time ago.'

Wade nodded. 'Yeah, yeah it was. Hey, we should totally go get a beer or something sometime. Catch up, huh? I've got a sales call to make right now, but if you're free I could meet you back here about five thirty? How does that sound?'

Gary winced. 'Well, I've got a few things I got to do…'

'Sure, sure,' Wade nodded. 'Another time, yeah?' He reached into his pocket and handed Gary a card. 'That's my number. If you call the top one between one and three on a weekday you'll get through to my secretary. She has a hot voice. Not much to look at mind.'

Gary lowered an eyebrow and pocketed the card. How the hell did a moron like Wade Martin end up in a smart suit with his own secretary? 'Sure.'

'Well it was good to see you, buddy!' Wade grinned, and patted him again on the arm. 'Keep in touch, yeah?'

Gary nodded. Wade winked and began to head away. Before Gary had even realised he was even considering it, he stopped him. 'Hey, Wade,' he paused. 'You know what Elliott's doing now?'

Wade looked at him blankly for a second, and then nodded. 'Oh yeah, she's still in Bullworth.' He replied. 'Last time I was there she was living in New Coventry.'

Gary considered this. He couldn't imagine Elliott willingly living in New Coventry. Actually, he couldn't imagine Elliott willingly remaining in Bullworth. She had hated the place. He had often wondered what she would be doing now, and the last thing he had expected was for her to still be there.

'Yeah,' Wade went on as more information came to him. 'She's got an apartment with Reese.'

Gary nodded grimly. Did he really think that she wouldn't have met someone in the last ten years? 'Reese, huh?' he asked. 'Husband?

Wade laughed, bewildering him. 'Nah, man. Reese is her kid.'

Gary blinked. 'She has a kid?'

'Yeah, man! He's got to be ten now or something,' Wade explained. 'She had a kid the year after she started school.' He smacked himself on the head when he remembered something. 'You weren't there, were you? Man I forgot that you'd been expelled then.'

Gary just stared at him. No way, Wade had to be winding him up. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah. We all thought she was going to get kicked out, y'know? But someone must have said something because she finished her last few years. She stayed in some hostel or something until she graduated. They helped her with the kid and stuff.'

Gary was frowning deeply. 'Must have been tough for her.' He mumbled.

Wade shrugged. 'I guess. Jimmy looked out for her a lot though. Pulled up the jerks who tried to give her a hard time. I got to admit I was one of those jerks. But we were all kids, yeah? No harm done.'

'Yeah.' Gary murmured, but his mind was elsewhere.

'Well, I got to be going,' Wade said. 'Seriously though, call me. We'll definitely go for beers, yeah?'

'Yeah.' Gary said distractedly. He didn't acknowledge Wade as he waved and headed off. Instead he just moved to the outside of the store where he had bought his cigarettes and stared blankly ahead of him.

Something suddenly came back to him with horrifying clarity. His last day at Bullworth when everyone had been going insane outside, Elliott had turned up to stop him, but he locked her in the History room. But before he did that, she had dropped something.

_Christ_, he had completely forgotten about that! How the hell could he have forgotten something like that? Yeah his mind had been all over the place and he was probably clinically insane at the time, but surely he would have remembered something like that…

He had to find out if Wade was telling the truth. If it was true then there couldn't be any doubt about it; he was a dad. He had fifty dollars in his bank account for this month's rent. Enough for a train ticket and with change for a motel room.

_Reese, huh_, he thought as he joined the crowds moving up and down the street. _Good name_.


	3. Who Wants Easy When There's Complicated?

**A/N:** Arg!! It's taken me about two bloody hours to stop my computer being a boob so I can actually get onto this site. I seriously need a new pc asap. I'll cry if it crashes out again. It keeps crashing every time I try to send a frigging message, stoopid technology. Anyway... yeah, I'm sure you'll all be able to tell that the bit in itallics is a flashback, it's the easiest way to explain what happened. At least to me it is. ANYWHO I'll stop rambling on about crap and let you get on with reading :D

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**Chapter Three**

**Who Wants Easy When There's Complicated?**

_'Pregnant? A pregnancy at Bullworth? The shame of it! I refuse to believe that my students involve themselves in this kind of lewd behaviour!'_

_Elliott sat with her hands clasped in her lap and her eyes fixed firmly on the carpet in front of her. She had been dreading this confrontation and had known exactly how it was going to go. She had braced herself for the abuse and the insults, but they still made her feel like dirt. And it didn't help matters that the builders who were fixing the window above Crabblesnitch's office had stopped their work to watch._

_'Dr Crabblesnitch,' Ms Phillips said gently from the seat beside her. 'I don't believe that punishing her is going to be of much help. It isn't exactly going to change the situation, is it?'_

_Crabblesnitch sighed heavily and leaned back in his seat. He was visibly outraged by the whole thing, a possibly a little disgusted. 'I suppose not. I would try to contact your mother but I already know that that will be a lengthy and probably quite difficult process given how often she moves around. I will call your father. I can't say he will be pleased.'_

_Elliott still said nothing. There was nothing she could say. Apologise? Sorry for being pregnant, sir. It won't happen again, sir. _

_'In all my years at Bullworth I've never seen the like. And so soon after that whole ridiculous show from Gary Smith…' Crabblesnitch snorted, rising from his seat. 'I have to admit that I'm sure how to proceed with this. I imagine I'll have no choice but to expel you.'_

_Elliott felt Ms Phillips looking at her compassionately, but she still didn't remove her eyes from the floor. _

_'I'll call for you when I've spoken to your father.' Crabblesnitch told her. 'Now take your leave. I advise you to start packing your belongings.'_

_Elliott stood up silently and moved to the door, closely followed by Ms Phillips. As she walked out she could hear Crabblesnitch muttering about how much of an outrage it was. _

_'It'll be okay, Elliott,' Ms Phillips told her. 'Dr Crabblesnitch is just old fashioned. I'll talk to him and we'll see if we can arrange something to have you stay on for your last two years.'_

_Elliott frowned slightly and tentatively glanced up as they walked out of the office. All the other students already held a small amount of contempt over her because they all knew of her relationship with Gary. And news spread like wildfire here; it was already out that she was pregnant. Thankfully no one at Bullworth was smart enough to put two and two together and figure out that Gary was the father. Rumour was that it was one of the Townies. _

_Well, at least the Post-Op nickname would be quashed from now on._

_'I don't think I'd want to stay.' Elliott murmured, ducking her head as Christy and Angie walked by whispering excitedly. _

_'Come along to my room.' Ms Phillips told her. 'I have no classes and we can talk a little more. Would that make you feel better?'_

_The only thing that would make her feel a little better was if someone granted her with a time machine, but there was no point in being sarcastic to Ms Phillips. She was the only person being remotely accepting of the whole thing. 'Yeah.' She said quietly. 'I guess.'_

_Ms Phillips smiled. 'I promise you, Elliott, everything will be fine. It all seems so big and daunting right now I know, but change is good. You'll see.'_

_Elliott said nothing and walked alongside her to the Art class. This part of the school was quiet, thankfully, apart from Pedro getting something from his locker. Apparently he hadn't heard the news as he only said a brief, cheery hi and then moved on._

_'Are you hungry?' Ms Phillips asked as she opened the door. 'Because I can go and get you something if you… Oh, hello Jimmy.'_

_Elliott had to stop herself from groaning aloud. What the hell did he want? She glanced over her shoulder at him and frowned deeply. _Go away, Jimmy_, she thought_. You're the last person I want to see.

_'Hey, Ms Phillips,' Jimmy said, waving at the teacher. 'I just wanted to talk to Elliott real quick, if that's okay.'_

_Ms Phillips smiled. 'Of course. You can go in here.' She turned her attention to Elliott. 'I'll go get you some lunch. And try not to fret, dear.' With a supportive pat on the shoulder, Ms Phillips turned and headed away down the corridor._

_Elliott stood awkwardly, eyeing Jimmy. 'Well?' she said finally. 'What is it?'_

_Jimmy nodded to the room. 'You really want to talk in the corridor?'_

_She hesitated, and then sighed. 'Fine.' She went into the Art room and sat down heavily on one of the stools. 'You want to know if it's true? Then yeah it's true. I went and got myself knocked up. Clever, huh? Now you can go and tell everyone you heard it straight from the horse's mouth. You want more detail? Well apparently I'm four months along. That leaves me about five months to prepare myself for a total life-nuke. Talk about ticking time bomb…'_

_'I'm not here to make fun of you,' Jimmy said irritably. 'And I'm not here to find out stuff to tell everyone else. I just came to see how you were.'_

_'How I am?' Elliott demanded. 'Since when would you care?'_

_'Quit the tough routine, Elliott.'_

_She gritted her teeth and looked away, arms folded over her chest. She sat there stubbornly for a moment, waiting for Jimmy to give up and go away, but he didn't. So instead she gave up. 'Crabblesnitch is going to expel me.' She sighed, brushing some dust from her skirt. 'My mom has gone AWOL. My dad will probably run a mile when he finds out. Youth hostel here I come!'_

_'He won't expel you,' Jimmy said confidently. 'Trust me.'_

_'Oh really,' Elliott cocked an eyebrow. 'And how do you know that?'_

_Jimmy just pointed at her and turned to the door. 'Leave it to me. I'll sort everything out for you. Just keep it together, yeah?'_

_Elliott stood up, frowning in confusion. 'You're going to talk to Crabblesnitch?'_

_'Sure,' Jimmy replied. 'The guy loves me.' He turned to leave again._

_'Why?' Elliott asked, genuinely baffled. 'I've been nothing but a bitch to you.'_

_He shrugged. 'It's just what I do.' He replied, and then left the room._

_Elliott stared at the closed door for a moment, and then sat back down thoughtfully._

* * *

The blinds were drawn and the bedside lamp was off, but the neon glow from the bar across the street crept through the gaps around the window, casting a cold blue light across the bed. Lying on her side with the blanket pulled up to her chin, Elliott stared at the window and listened to the ghostly yells and distant police sirens. She couldn't sleep, but that was nothing new. She didn't sleep much these days, and she guessed she was in for a few more sleepless nights until she found a new job. Looking back she was glad she had finally stood up to Maurice, but she couldn't help but think of the paycheque she had lost. That was half her monthly income gone. How the hell was she going to be able to keep up with the rent on the pay she got from the café? She had been struggling even before she lost that job.

'You're all tense. What's wrong?' His warm hand slipped over her waist and she felt him cuddle into her. Instantly she felt safer. Jimmy could do that; make her feel safe with nothing more than a touch. But she still resented it.

'I lost my job today.' She told him, not moving.

Jimmy pulled his arm back and she felt him sit up. '_What_? Are you serious? Why?'

Elliott shook her head and rolled onto her back. 'It was my own stupid fault,' she told him. 'I just… I just had this thought. Like, why the hell am I working for a bastard like Maurice? He's rude and obnoxious and… I just couldn't stand being there. But now that's half my pay gone and…'

Jimmy was frowning deeply. He was sitting up, hands balled into fists. 'That bastard,' he muttered. 'I've got a good mind to go down there and beat the crap out of him. Didn't he call Reese a scumbag the other week? I should beat him just for that.'

Elliott propped herself up on her elbows and decided it would be best not to tell him what else he had said about Reese. 'It was my fault,' she repeated. 'I'm going to go down tomorrow and apologise. He probably won't give me my job back, but there's always the chance…'

'You're _not_ going down there to ask for that crud job back,' Jimmy told her sternly. 'I've told you hundreds of times to quit that place. I'm just glad you're finally away from that asshole.'

Elliott pushed herself up so she was leaning against the headboard. 'Reese turned up at the restaurant covered in blood. He's been fighting with those kids from Blue Skies again. I'm really scared he's going to get hurt, Jimmy. I mean, he's big for his age and everything, but he's still only ten. Ten year old kids shouldn't be coming in with black eyes, bloody noses and grazed knuckles.'

'I did that when I was his age.'

'Yeah, and you're such a model citizen.' Elliott mumbled.

Jimmy frowned vaguely but allowed the comment to slide. 'If you're that worried why don't you take him to the doctor again?'

She shook her head, drawing her eyebrows together. 'No way. They just tried to palm us off with a bottle of pills. I'm not having him packed full of Ritalin for the rest of his life.'

Jimmy shrugged and looked at her solemnly. 'But what if he needs it? Elliott you can't just ignore it you know.'

Elliott frowned at him. 'Half the kids with it end up growing out of it, and he hasn't even got it that bad.'

'Do you really want to wait and see if he gets worse?' Jimmy asked. 'At least send him to see a therapist or something.'

'I thought you hated therapists.'

'Well, yeah, but this is different.' He paused, regarding her sulky reaction. 'I'll pay for it.'

Elliott sighed and shook her head. 'Jimmy, I'm not going to let you pay for a therapist for Reese! There's nothing even wrong with him! He just gets…'

'Excited,' Jimmy finished with a frown. 'Yeah. And who does that remind you of?'

She shot him an annoyed glare. 'Drop it, Jimmy. It's not going to happen.'

'It would be for the best.' Jimmy told her. 'He's okay now, but what about when he hits his teens? I can tell you now that he'll be a handful even _without_ the added complication of ADD. Do you want him to end up just like-'

'I said _drop it_.' Elliott ordered.

Jimmy frowned deeply and closed his mouth. Elliott glared at him for a moment longer, and then lay back down on her side, pulling the blanket up to her chin and slipping one hand beneath the pillow.

'I'm tired.' She told him, quietly.

Jimmy remained where he was for a moment, and then shifted back down. The old bed creaked as he moved. She frowned irritably as he moved close to her. He kissed her softly on her shoulder.

'Sorry,' he told her. 'Get some sleep.'

She said nothing. He lay back down and fell silent, and she carried on staring at the drawn blinds.

* * *

Jimmy tripped over a stray sneaker in the narrow corridor. He stumbled, bleary eyed, but caught himself on the doorframe. The clock in Elliott's bedroom had stopped a few days ago and she hadn't replaced the batteries yet, but he guessed that it was only about eight am. He only knew that because eight am was the only time that New Coventry was quiet. Jimmy pulled on his t-shirt as he reached the kitchen and yawned. He hadn't slept well last night, and he knew Elliott hadn't either. Probably why she had already been up and gone when he had woken up.

'Hey, Jimmy!'

Jimmy popped his head out of his shirt to see Reese sitting at the table, grinning around a mouthful of cereal. Jimmy's eyes moved to the kitchen counter, which was covered in spilled milk a bits of cereal. 'Morning, Reese,' he replied, moving to the counter and picking up a cloth. 'So you finally decided to use a bowl, huh?'

Reese shrugged. His dark hair was sticking up on one side and he still looked a little fat eyed from sleep. 'Mom didn't leave me any breakfast, so I made my own.'

'I can see that,' Jimmy replied, cleaning the counter up and tossing the cloth in the sink. 'Where is your mom anyway?'

'She left a note.' Reese replied. 'It's on the fridge.'

Jimmy moved to the fridge and plucked the note from beneath a plastic banana shaped magnet. He quickly read over the note, which was only addressed to Reese and said she had gone to town to hand out some job applications, and then set it down on the counter.

'Well she'll probably be back soon,' Jimmy said, sitting at the table. 'And when she sees you still sitting there with milk all over your face she'll go spare. You want to get ready for school, pal.'

Reese just grinned. 'Yeah. Sure. School.' He stifled a giggle.

Jimmy rolled his eyes. 'You're going to school today.' He said firmly. 'Your mom has it bad enough already without having teachers chasing her up.'

Reese pouted sulkily. 'O-_kay_.' He grumbled. 'I don't see why I have to go anyway. It sucks.'

'Well you'll have to do stuff you don't like your whole life.' Jimmy told him, leaning back in his seat and rubbing his head. 'Might as well get used to it when you're young.'

Reese had already lost interest in the subject. 'I saw Peanut yesterday,' he said, eyes widening a little. 'He said I should take my bike down to the garage this afternoon and he's going to show me how to tune it up so it goes faster. Like _really_ faster. He says I'll be the fastest kid in Bullworth, just like you were. That'll be cool, won't it Jimmy? I'll win all those races like you did.'

Jimmy was only half listening. 'Yeah, sure it will.' He agreed. 'Peanut's probably the best person sort your bike out.'

Reese stopped eating his cereal and watched Jimmy for a moment. 'Have you and mom fell out again?'

Jimmy glanced up at him. Reese noticed more than he let on. He was very much aware of Jimmy and Elliott's on/off relationship and he obviously wanted them to be together. He practically worshipped Jimmy and Elliott had told him many times that he was all Reese talked about. He wanted to be just like Jimmy, which might not be a very good thing.

Jimmy often stopped and wondered how he had ended up looking after Gary Smith's kid. Elliott never admitted that fact to him, she always avoided the subject of Reese's father, but it was obvious. Reese was the spitting image of Gary. It was painful sometimes, but Jimmy tried his best to ignore it. After all, he thought the world of Reese. And his mother.

'We just had a little fallout.' Jimmy told him. 'Nothing to worry about.'

Reese nodded and shovelled another spoonful of cereal in his mouth. He said something but it was incomprehensible through his full mouth.

'Swallow your food first.' Jimmy told him.

Reese chewed quickly and strained to swallow, making his eyes water. 'So when are you gonna marry mom?'

Jimmy blinked. 'Uh… huh?'

'You're always round,' Reese shrugged. 'You might as well, y'know. Then you won't have to keep going to your place all the time. We can all stay together. It'll be awesome.'

Jimmy shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 'Well, Reese… it's complicated. You see, me and your mom, we…'

Thankfully the door opened at that moment, saving Jimmy from a painfully awkward explanation. Elliott came in through the front door, hands full of shopping bags. Jimmy quickly got up to help her, taking the bags. She glanced at him and he knew she was still annoyed. She looked to Reese and frowned.

'Why aren't you ready?' she demanded. 'It's nearly nine!' She shooed Reese out of his chair. 'Get dressed! Geez…' She sighed and shook her head, moving to the counter to help Jimmy unpack the shopping.

Jimmy watched her out of the corner of her eye. She was putting taking things out of the bags and putting them on the counter with more force than she really needed. He made a mental note not to mention anything about sending Reese to see a therapist again any time soon. 'How did you get on?' he asked.

She shrugged. 'All the stores are already filled with bag packers and shelf stockers,' she replied. 'And seeing as that's the only thing I'm qualified to do I had to put in for a cleaning job in the bar across the street. Apparently they're going to get back to me. Crappy hours and crappy money, but it's better than nothing.'

Jimmy half nodded. 'You know, Elliott, if you need some extra cash-'

'I'll be in Bullworth Town later if you want me to bring you and the guys some lunch,' she said quickly, interrupting him. 'Johnny doesn't like tuna fish, right?'

Jimmy half nodded. 'Yeah, that's right.' Great, so he really was in the doghouse. Next she would tell him that it wouldn't be a good idea for him to come around tonight.

On cue she said, 'And I fancied a quiet night with Reese tonight, so maybe you could just come around tomorrow or something.'

Jimmy nodded. 'Sure. Yeah.' He balled up the last carrier bag and dropped it on the counter. 'I'll go see if Reese is ready.'

Before he even reached the narrow corridor that led to the two bedrooms, Reese appeared. He was in his school uniform for Bullworth Primary and pulling his backpack on.

'You ready, kid?' Jimmy asked.

'Sure.' Reese nodded. 'Are we going in your car?'

'We'll have to. You're already late.'

Reese punched the air. '_Yes_!' he hissed. He scampered across the kitchen to Elliott and pecked her on the cheek. 'See you, mom.'

'Have a good day.' Elliott told him. 'And no fighting!'

He was already out the door. 'Yeah, mom!' he called from the staircase.

Jimmy moved to the door and hesitated. 'You okay?' he asked.

She nodded without looking up. 'Peachy.' She replied. 'I'll see you later.'

He hesitated and then moved over to her. He kissed her on the cheek, the same place Reese had kissed her. She lowered her head more and remained silent. Jimmy turned and left, closing the door gently behind him. As he caught up with Reese outside, who was bouncing around the car excitedly, he wondered if it was all really worth the hassle.


	4. Nauseating Nostalgia

**A/N:** I have no idea how this chapter will read back. I've rewritten this chapter so much today it's lost all meaning to me. I kept losing it because every ten minutes my CRAP computer would be all crappy and crash out. Total pants. So sorry if this chapter reads weird, I'll change it if it does :P

* * *

**Chapter Four**

**Nauseating Nostalgia**

Bullworth's only train station was still packed with broken down train cars, meaning Gary had to get a taxi from the nearest station. He resented having to hand over the ten dollar fare as it only left him with about fifteen dollars, but it was either that or paying another twenty five dollars for a train ticket back to the city. He had been tempted to do so as the more he thought about returning to Bullworth the more he regretted the idea to come, but it was too late now.

He peered out of the window as the cab entered Bullworth Vale. He watched the familiar, pristine houses roll by and felt a twist in his stomach. Entering Bullworth was like walking into a time machine; everything was exactly as it had been ten years ago. For a moment he felt like that past ten years hadn't gone by at all. He was fifteen again. That wasn't a good thing.

'Where'd you want to be out, kid?' the cab driver asked as he trundled by the bike shop, which was still surprisingly _Shiny Bikes_.

Gary snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the meter. 'Here will do.' He told the driver, not wanting to pay a penny more than he had to. The driver snorted and stopped the car outside of the seafood restaurant on the waterfront.

'You know your way around?' the driver asked, taking his money for the fare. 'Cos I got maps. I'll give you one for another five dollars.'

Gary frowned as he opened the door and didn't bother answering him as he climbed out onto the sidewalk, closing the car door behind him. He heard the driver mutter something under his breath before driving away, but he ignored him.

This was awful. The fresh salty air made him nauseous. It was frightening how much nothing had changed. He was tempted just to call another taxi and get as far away from this place as possible. Screw the off chance that he had a kid wandering around here somewhere, this place was already driving him crazy and he had only been there two minutes. As he looked around he expected to see Pinky Gauthier and Derby Harrington swanning around the corner, or maybe Kirby Olsen and Damon West emerging from the store with armfuls of eggs to hurl at the library. Or perhaps Jimmy whizzing down the road on that stupid red bike.

Gary shuddered and pushed his hands in his pockets. Jimmy Hopkins. Hell, he'd spent a lot of time thinking about what he would do the next time he met Jimmy Hopkins. He was the only reason that Gary hadn't returned to Bullworth sooner. He wasn't afraid, no way. Well, in a way he was… he was afraid of what he would do to Jimmy. If he had told anyone about what he had planned to do to Jimmy while he had been 'in care', as the doctors liked to call it, they would have hurled him into solitary and threw away the key. But of course that had been when he was still young. His thoughts weren't so dark now, but they were dark enough when it came to the subject of Jimmy Hopkins. He had ruined his life.

Gary got walking towards New Coventry, briefly glancing up to a poster in the window of the seafood restaurant advertising for a new dishwasher. He made a mental note of it. There was a chance he could end up here for longer than he had planned, and if that happened he would need a job.

He scowled at himself for thinking so far ahead. He didn't even know if Elliott still lived in New Coventry yet. And would she even let him see Reese? Probably not. Still, Gary had to at least try.

* * *

Johnny Vincent cursed loudly as the wrench in his hand slipped and clanged noisily off the exhaust of the car. He felt a spot of oil splat on his cheek and cursed again.

'This stupid goddamn car!' he cried, hurling the wrench aside so it bounced out from underneath the vehicle. 'It's nothing but a big heap of junk! I got a good mind just to take it down to the scrap yard myself.'

He pushed himself out from underneath the car, the wheels on the board beneath him rattling noisily. He sat up with a grunt and snatched a rag from the oil stained floor beside him.

'How much is that stupid bitch planning on paying for this crap anyway?' he grumbled. 'Might as well get herself a new set of wheels. You think we could just paint over that old Honda out the back and try and palm that off on her? We'd get rid of that piece of junk and keep the scrap money from this piece of crap, Two birds.' He waited for a response, but when he didn't get one he looked up angrily. 'Hey, Peanut. I'm talkin' to you.'

Peanut was standing by the bonnet of the car, looking out of the open garage door with squinted eyes. He showed no sign of listening to Johnny and that was unusual for Peanut. He usually hung on Johnny's every word, and he had done ever since school. Now though he had found something more interesting than Johnny.

'Peanut, you dumb twerp,' Johnny scowled, getting to his feet. 'Hey, are you listening or what?'

Peanut only turned his head slightly, but he was still watching something across the street. 'Hey Johnny,' he said, as if Johnny hadn't been trying for his attention at all. 'You recognise that kid over there?'

Johnny joined his side, wiping at his cheek with the dirty rag. He scanned the street opposite the garage. They had opened it up right by the underpass in New Coventry. It did badly for the first couple of months, until Jimmy decided to get himself involved, but after that it had been smooth sailing. Johnny, Peanut and Jimmy made a mint out of the place, mainly because it was the only decent garage in Bullworth after the one in Bullworth Town had been blown up a few years ago by some dumb kid who didn't realise gasoline and cigarettes didn't mix.

'Who're you talkin' about?' Johnny asked, still slightly annoyed at being ignored earlier. 'I don't see anyone.'

Peanut pointed at a man about their age walking down the street with his head down. He looked about six feet tall, with dark brown hair that was shaved around the back and the sides. He walked slightly hunched, doing a bad job of hiding his broad shoulders. Johnny's frown deepened as soon as he saw him.

'That's that creepy kid, isn't it?' Peanut asked. 'The one that caused all that shit at school. Y'know, the one Jimmy sent packin'. What was his name again?'

'Gary.' Johnny nodded. His frown disappeared and he smirked a little. 'Gary Smith. Well I'll be. What's the little twerp doin' back in Bullworth? He's got to have a death wish or somethin'.'

'He's got a nerve showin' up after what he did to Jimmy.' Peanut said angrily. 'We should go over there right now.' He started forward, but Johnny reached out and put his hand in front of him.

'All that was a long time ago, Peanut,' he told him. 'Some people change, y'know.'

'Yeah,' Peanut frowned. 'Apart from psychos like him.'

Johnny watched as Gary disappeared around the corner, and then moved back to the wrecked car he had been working on. Peanut remained where he was and continued to watch the corner.

'We're gonna tell Jimmy, right?' he asked. 'I mean, we can't let that kid wander around with telling Jimmy.'

Johnny nodded as he got back down on the board by the car. 'Yeah,' he replied. 'But let me talk to him, 'kay?'

'Okay Johnny.'

'And get back to work. You don't get paid for standin' around starin' at the street.'

'Sure, Johnny.'

Johnny pulled himself back beneath the car and grinned to himself. Looked like there was some excitement brewing.

* * *

Elliott dodged across the road, narrowly avoiding being clipped by the local school bus, and quickly made her way up the street towards the top end of New Coventry towards the café that was now her one and only job. She was running late because she had lost track of time whilst writing out another batch of application forms. Luckily though she knew it was only Rory working there today, meaning she wasn't likely to get pulled up for tardiness. Rory was only seventeen, and frankly didn't give a crap what time Elliott came in. It wasn't as if they ever had many customers to serve anyway.

Elliott was stressing out about getting a new job. If she didn't get one in the next week there was no way she would have enough at the end of the month for the rent, and she already had a dozen warnings from the landlord for late payments in the past. If she missed this month then that would be it, both she and Reese would be out on their asses.

Although it wasn't like they would be left on the streets. Not with Jimmy around. He had been pestering her for the past couple of months to move in with him. He had a nice, spacey apartment in Bullworth Town that would probably be just the perfect size for the three of them, but Elliott had too much pride to admit that she needed help. That was why she wouldn't borrow money from him. She wasn't even sure _why_ she couldn't just bite the bullet and accept that she could do with a hand.

Maybe it was time she put everything behind her and tried to make an actual life for herself and Reese. After all, Jimmy was around almost every single day and he was absolutely wonderful to her, even though she was a grade A bitch to him ninety percent of the time. Reese practically worshipped the ground he walked on. Jimmy was secure and safe, with a good job and was more than willing to have the two of them live with him. Actually he often insisted on it, but she continually turned him down, despite the fact her apartment was dropping to pieces around her. Perhaps it was time she should settle down. After all it was no good for Reese to live in such an dysfunctional relationship like hers and Jimmy's. In a secure home with two parents he might calm down and get over his ADD on his own…

Elliott decided to push it all out of her mind until tonight and at least try and have a ten minute interval in her day when she wasn't stressing and fretting. She quickly dashed through the door of the café, even though there was only one woman in the corner with a newspaper, and slipped behind the counter.

'Oh, hey Elle.' Rory said, not looking up from the magazine she was leafing through. 'Trouble with Reese again?'

Elliott hung her coat up and brushed down the front of her shirt. 'No, I just wasn't watching the clock.' She glanced around at the untouched cups on the counter. 'Many customers?'

'Nope,' Rory replied, brushing her black hair behind her ears. 'Just that chick in the corner. I don't even know why you bothered coming in. I've already signed you in. I could have signed you out and you would have still got paid.'

Elliott half smiled as she pulled on her apron. 'I haven't got anything better to do.' She replied. 'Man, that's sad isn't it?'

Rory nodded. 'Yup.'

Elliott laughed and headed through to the kitchen. 'Do you want me to warm these muffins? That old couple will be turning up soon, won't they?'

'You mean the two walking corpses?' Rory asked. 'Yeah, I reckon they'll be here in about ten minutes. Unless they couldn't get out of their coffins this morning.'

Elliott smiled again and turned on the coffee machine to make herself a cup. The kitchen was small and crampt, tucked away behind the counter. She couldn't see the customers from there, which was good most of the time. It was good for avoiding conversation with the more crazy regulars they had.

'Hey, Rory?' Elliott called as the coffee machine noisily released a cloud of steam.

'Yup?'

'You know Jimmy's been asking me to move in with him…'

'Oh just move in already,' Rory called back to her. 'I've been telling you to since you first told me. You're stupid if you stay in that crummy apartment working two crummy jobs.'

'Actually, it's only one crummy job. I quit the other one.'

'Good for you. Well there you go, now's the best time. Seriously, you're a complete moron if you don't move in with him.'

Elliott began to agree, but the sound of the bell above the shop door kept her considering it for a moment longer. Rory was right. She was stupid to stay in that stupid apartment. That stupid apartment she couldn't even afford anymore. She opened her mouth to tell Rory that she would talk to Jimmy as soon as she got off, but Rory was already talking to the customer.

'What can I get ya?' Rory asked in her usual, bored tone.

'Um, actually, I'm looking for someone.'

Elliott froze, her hand just above the stacked coffee cups beside the machine. She knew that voice. She knew that voice very well. She slowly edged backwards, leaning back a little to see around the door to the counter.

'It's probably a long shot,' the familiar voice continued, awkwardly. 'But I kind of don't know where to start…'

He trailed off as he saw her in the doorway. Elliott stared at him, mouth open in surprise. His expression matched hers for a moment, and then he blinked and straightened up. Curious, Rory glanced between the two of them.

'Um, hi.' Gary said, quietly.

Elliott blinked at him and managed to choke out a response. 'Hi.'


	5. We're All Friends Here

**Chapter Five**

**We're All Friends Here**

Jimmy killed the engine of his car but didn't get out straight away. He sat behind the wheel for a few moments, looking out of the window towards the underpass that led up to Bullworth Town. He had dropped Reese off at school without incident, although he was pretty sure that Reese had just gone through one gate and out of the other. Usually he would have circled the school once, just to make sure, but this morning he simply didn't have time. He was already late for the garage. It wasn't as if he had to be there for a certain time, after all he was his own boss, but he knew better than to leave Johnny and Peanut alone for too long. They tended to always make the wrong decisions when left to it.

His thoughts, as usual, were on Elliott. She annoyed him so much sometimes. If she could just get down from her high horse for ten minutes and admit that she needed some help, then she would make hers and Reese's lives a hell of a lot easier, not to mention take a load of Jimmy's mind. He hated going around to their poky flat in the pit of New Coventry and seeing them live the way they did when he had a perfectly good sized flat in Bullworth Town, that _didn't_ have drug dealers living above and below. But she was stubborn, and she had always been the same. Most people would assume that she didn't want help because she had too much pride, but Jimmy knew the real reason why she wouldn't let him help her. It was because she still resented him for what happened with Gary Smith all those years ago.

Holding a grudge for eleven years. Damn she was stubborn.

Jimmy climbed out of the car and locked it. He had taken to parking the car just opposite the garage so he could keep an eye on it. Cars didn't last five minutes in New Coventry; they were always smashed up to some degree. Whether it was a snapped wing mirror or all the windows, you could never leave a car down here and expect it to be left undamaged.

Peanut's top half was hidden in the engine of an old rusted Honda and something creaked a clicked inside. Jimmy stopped by the open garage door for a moment, watching him. Peanut was good with cars, but about as bright as a smashed light bulb.

'Peanut, man!' Jimmy frowned, moving towards him. 'What are you doing with that piece of trash? You're supposed to be fixing that Sedan!'

Peanut jumped at the sound of Jimmy's voice, and consequently banged his head on the open bonnet. He yelped and then pulled himself out, rubbing his head. 'Oh, hey Jimmy,' he said with a frown. 'Thought you weren't gonna show today.'

Jimmy glanced around and saw a car covered with a blue tarp. He moved to it and pulled it off. The Sedan sat there, two corners propped up on bricks and the word _scrap_ painted across the bonnet. 'Peanut, what the hell?' he cried, gesturing to the car. 'You're supposed to be _fixing_ it! The Honda is supposed to be scrapped!'

Peanut shrugged. 'Johnny said that he couldn't fix that thing. He says we'll have a better chance of fixing up the Honda and selling it on to that chick who owns the Sedan. It'll be cheaper for her for one thing, and we'll get more money for scrapping the Sedan.'

Jimmy rubbed his forehead. He wasn't in the mood for this kind of thing this morning. 'You think she's going to want to take that piece of crap home? She wanted us to fix the _Sedan_. That's why she brought it to us. It only needed a good service! If we couldn't fix it I would have told her to scrap it herself!' He looked at the Sedan again. 'Where the hell are the wheels?'

'We sold them to that weird guy who collects rubber in his cart,' Peanut replied. 'Got about thirty dollars for them.'

Jimmy rubbed his face with both hands. 'Oh for… Where the hell is Johnny?'

'Johnny's in the office.' Peanut told him.

Jimmy stalked past Peanut towards the small office in the back. The blinds were drawn but he could see a part that was flattened from where Johnny was leaning on them.

'How's Elliott doin'?' Peanut asked. 'I told Reese to bring his bike down today.'

'She's fine,' Jimmy grumbled. 'They're both fine.'

'Yeah, well, she's probably not gonna be fine when she hears what Johnny's got to tell you.'

Jimmy glanced to him. 'And what's that?'

Peanut nodded to the office and turned back to the Honda. 'Tell them I was asking after them, yeah?'

Jimmy frowned at him for a moment, and then went into the office. As expected, Johnny was sitting on one of the plastic chairs, balanced on two legs with his head rested on the blinds. He peered up at Jimmy through the smoke from his cigarette.

'Hey, Jimmy,' he nodded. 'You might want to sit down, pal.'

Jimmy just frowned at him. 'What the hell is going on out there? Why have you totalled the Sedan? Couldn't you have waited until I got here until you made a such a pig stupid decision?'

Johnny rolled his eyes and rocked forward on the chair to stub the cigarette out. 'Jimmy, seriously. Sit down.'

'I'm not sitting down until you sort that car out! We're going to end up having to buy it off the owner and then more than likely _give_ her the Honda for all the hassle! Do you have any idea how to run a business, Johnny, or are you just making it up as you go along?'

Johnny shot him an angry and impatient glare. 'Jimmy, shut up and sit the hell down man.'

Jimmy opened his mouth to argue further, but decided it would be pointless. Instead he rolled his eyes and sat down on the padded office chair behind the desk. 'This better be good.' He said irritably.

Johnny leaned back again, resting the back of his chair against the wall, and fiddled with his box of cigarettes. 'Okay, Jimmy,' he half nodded. 'I don't want you to fly off the handle or anything. Last thing I want is your losing your cool with me, okay?'

Jimmy frowned. 'Just tell me what it is, Johnny.'

Johnny hesitated, as if unsure how to proceed. 'Well, I was working on the Sedan this morning, which is total junk by the way. Nothing I can do with it, but don't worry I'll sort that out-'

'You're damn right you will.' Jimmy muttered.

'Will you quit your bellyaching and let me finish?' Johnny scowled. 'Anyway, Peanut got distracted by some kid across the street; you know what he's like. I went over and… well…' He paused and sucked his teeth. After a moment he glanced up at Jimmy and shrugged apologetically. 'It was Gary Smith. He's in town.'

Jimmy stared at him. '_Gary_?' he managed finally. 'Are you sure?'

'Well he's taller than I remember him but the guy has kept the same stupid hairstyle for ten years.' Johnny shrugged again. 'I'm pretty sure it was him.'

Jimmy stood up sharply, causing the chair to scrape on the floor. 'Are you _sure_ it's him?' he demanded. 'I need to know for sure.'

Johnny frowned. 'Hey, cool it Jimmy. You don't need to yell at me about it, I'm only telling you.'

'What the hell would he come back here for?' Jimmy demanded angrily. 'There's nothing for him here! Surely he knows I'm still here! Why the hell would he risk getting another beating?'

Johnny glanced down at his hands again. 'Maybe… well, maybe he found out about Reese?'

Jimmy slammed his hands down on the desk. '_Reese_ has got nothing to do with that scumbag, you hear me? If I catch that bastard anywhere near Reese I'll…' He stopped and gritted his teeth. He straightened up and then marched towards the door. 'You and Peanut watch the garage for a little longer.' He told him.

Johnny hopped up out of his chair and followed him. 'What you gonna do, Jim?'

Jimmy just shook his head. 'Sort out that Sedan, will you?' he said, not looking back.

'Jimmy, you take it easy okay?' Johnny called after him. 'Don't do anything stupid, right?'

Jimmy just waved a dismissive hand. Johnny stopped at the garage door and watched him as he hurried to his car and climbed inside. Peanut stepped beside Johnny and wiped his head with a oily rag, leaving a black smear there.

'So you told him, huh?' he asked.

'Yeah.' Johnny nodded.

Jimmy started the engine and tore away from the sidewalk, skidding away down the street.

'He seems pretty pissed.' Peanut commented.

'Yeah.' Johnny nodded. 'Well, we'll have his back if it gets out of hand, won't we?'

Peanut nodded. 'Sure, Johnny.'

Johnny watched Jimmy's car whip around the corner and half smiled.


	6. Time Flies When You're Feeling Bitter

**A/N:** Just to say that there's not going to be a flashback in every other chapter, just because they make the chapters uber long lol. I'm sure no one minds long chapters but... they hurt my fingers xD

* * *

**Chapter Six**

**Time Flies When You're Feeling Bitter**

_Elliott stood in the doorway and grimaced at the room before her. She put her bag down and then put her hands on the small of her back, which had been steadily aching ever since she had set off from the school earlier. All the walking had made her stomach feel heavy and uncomfortable and her feet felt fat and podgy in her shoes. _

_'Oh well this room won't make me want to hang myself.' She mumbled, looking around at the grim beige room. 'They could have at least put a picture up.'_

_'There's a picture.' Jimmy told her as he put the rest of her luggage down by the bed. He nodded to the small-framed picture on the bedside table. _

_Elliott moved towards it and picked it up. 'Great. I'll have Jesus silently judging my sinful ways every single night before I go to sleep.' She frowned and tossed the picture in the top drawer. 'I think not.'_

_Jimmy looked around with a shrug. 'It seems okay to me. Although I guess you haven't slept in the equipment shed down the football field before.'_

_Elliott smirked as she sat on the edge of the bed and tested its softness. 'Can't say so. Although I know people who have.'_

_Jimmy moved to the window and peered out. 'It's not that bad,' he told her. 'I mean, I thought youth hostels those big rooms where you have to sleep on cots with a bunch of strangers. At least you get your own room.'_

_'I guess.' Elliott mumbled. 'But still… I never thought I'd hear myself saying this but I'm going to miss my dorm room.'_

_Jimmy leaned against the window ledge and nodded. 'At least you didn't get shipped off to some young mom camp or something. You're still in Bullworth, which is a plus I guess.'_

_'It is?' Elliott snorted. 'Right. If you say so.' _

_'You're still singing that tune?' Jimmy frowned. 'What's so bad about this place? I mean, it _was_ a complete dump but in the past few months it's straightened out and everyone gets along and stuff. It's better than ever.'_

_'Well if I hadn't come here then I wouldn't be knocked up, that's for starters.' Elliott replied._

_'If you're that annoyed about it why didn't you just get rid of it?' Jimmy shrugged. 'You could have put it up for adoption or something.'_

_Elliott glanced down at her swollen stomach. 'In my book if you're stupid enough to make the mistake then you should take full responsibility for being such a moron. Plus… I don't think I would have been able to.'_

_Jimmy nodded in understanding. 'Well you've got plenty of people supporting you. I'll help out if you want me to. Ms Phillips and Mr Galloway have been taking your side at the school board meetings. It's not like you're alone.'_

_'I guess.' Elliott replied. She glanced briefly towards him and shifted uncomfortably. 'Thanks. I guess.'_

_'No problem.' He moved away from the window and towards the door. 'Where is Ms Phillips anyway? I thought she-'_

_Ms Phillips strolled into the room on cue, cutting Jimmy off. 'There we go.' She announced with a broad smile. 'You're signed in. Paige Cartwright said she's going to pop along soon to tell you the rules and routines and the like. She's a lovely woman, I used to know her when I was younger. Although I don't think she recognises me, I have changed a lot since then.'_

_Elliott smiled at her. 'That's great, thanks.'_

_'You should be thanking Jimmy for agreeing to carry all your bags here,' Ms Phillips smiled fondly at Jimmy. 'You are a good boy, Jimmy.'_

_'Yeah, sure.' Jimmy nodded, glancing at his watch. 'If that's all you ladies need me for then I'm going to make myself disappear.'_

_'Of course,' Ms Phillips nodded. 'Thanks again, Jimmy.'_

_Jimmy nodded to her and then lazily saluted to Elliott. 'I'll catch you later.'_

_Elliott watched him go, suddenly finding herself wishing that he would stay a little longer. Fair enough the hostel was in walking distance of the school; it was by the Town Hall in Bullworth Town, but she couldn't very well walk backwards and forwards every day, and she very much doubted that anyone would come and visit her. Apart from Ms Phillips, but she would only show up to give her schoolwork. _

_'I'm going to have to head off too, Elliott,' Ms Phillips said, glancing at her own watch. 'I have a class in half an hour. Are you going to be okay here on your own?'_

_Elliott smiled and nodded. 'Yeah, sure. Thanks for everything Ms Phillips.'_

_'You're very welcome, Elliott. Well, I'll call around this evening just to make sure you're settling in okay. Try not to worry about anything. You'll be fine. You have the school behind you.' Ms Phillips glanced around the room. 'And I think I'll bring some paintings around. This room could do with brightening up. Well goodbye, Elliott. Take care.'_

_'Bye, Ms Phillips.' Elliott nodded._

_She watched the teacher leave and instantly she was hit with an awful, heavy loneliness. She looked grimly around the room, and then at her bags on the floor. With a heavy sigh she pushed herself up and moved to the wardrobe. _

_'You're that pregnant kid, aren't you?'_

_Elliott glanced around to see a girl in the doorway, leaning on the doorframe with her arms crossed. She looked a year or two older than Elliott, with light brown hair that was twisted into dreadlocks. She was dressed in raggy jeans and a plain black t-shirt and had a slim, pretty face. An unfamiliar face, Elliott also noticed. She hadn't seen this girl before, which was unusual taking that she had been in this small town for a little over a year. _

_'What gave it away?' Elliott replied, moving to her bags to begin to unpack._

_'Ooh, another sarcastic inmate.' The girl chuckled. '_That_ makes a change.'_

_Elliott sighed and rubbed her head. 'Look, I don't mean to be rude or anything but I can feel another irrational mood swing coming on, which means I'll probably start yelling at you, then start laughing manically and then break down into hysterical tears and get your t-shirt all soggy, so if I were you I'd get out of the way before it happens.'_

_The girl eyed her, amused. 'I'm Heather.'_

_'Elliott.' _

_Heather regarded her for a moment. 'So was that the dad?'_

_Elliott sighed and glanced to her impatiently as she put her bag on the bed and unzipped it. 'What?'_

_'That kid. That's Jimmy Hopkins, isn't it? The kid who spray painted the Town Hall? He's the dad, yeah?'_

_'No,' Elliott laughed humourlessly. 'No way.'_

_'Hmm,' Heather cocked her head. 'Interesting.'_

_'Glad you think so. If you don't mind, Heather, I'd really-'_

_'So who is it then?' Heather asked, ignoring her. _

_'None of your business.'_

_'Do you even know?'_

_'Of course I know.'_

_'Then tell me. It's not that hard.'_

_'I'd rather not.'_

_'Oh. He's an uggo, isn't he? Let me guess, too many beers.'_

_Elliott turned and frowned, crossing her arms above her round stomach. 'I just don't want to talk about it, okay?' she frowned. 'As far as I'm concerned, this kid doesn't even have a dad.' She turned away again and began to pull clothes from her bag. 'He won't need one anyway.'_

_Heather moved into the room and sat on the bed, apparently oblivious to Elliott's irritation. She picked up a t-shirt from the pile of clothes and held it up against her. 'So you know the sex of the baby?'_

_Elliott blinked. 'What? No.'_

_'But you said _he_.' She pointed out._

_Elliott hesitated. 'Did I? Guess it was just a slip of the tongue.'_

_'You know, some people think that if you say the sex of the baby without realising it means that's what it's going to be. I believe everyone knows exactly what sex their babies are going to be. They know straight away. It's like instinct.' Heather put the t-shirt down and reached into a pocket. She pulled out a packet of mints and offered them to Elliott. 'Want one?'_

_Elliott hesitated. 'No thanks.'_

_'Have you picked out any names?'_

_Elliott regarded her for a moment. She could chase the girl away and sit and brood on her own, but in all honesty she couldn't bear the thought of sitting in this room by herself all night. After a brief consideration, she sat down beside Heather. 'Not yet.' She said._

_'Well, we know it's a boy,' Heather shrugged, tossing a mint into her mouth. 'So that narrows down the choices.' She glanced around. 'You want me to help you unpack? I don't have to go and see my parole officer until four o'clock. I've got loads of time.'_

_Elliott half smiled. 'Okay.'_

_Heather grinned and patted her on the arm. 'I like you, Elliott. I think we'll be buddies.'_

_Elliott nodded and shrugged. 'Okay.' She watched the other girl pick up another one of the bags and put it on the dresser, unzipping it._

_'So the kid's dad is a scumbag, huh?' Heather asked. _

_'Guess you could say that.'_

_Heather grinned at her over her shoulder. 'Who needs men anyway? They're all dogs. Screw them.'_

_Elliott smiled. 'Got that right.'_

_'You'll do a good job with that kid without a guy around, I can tell.' Heather told her. 'You've got a good aura about you. I'm normally always right about this kind of thing. You'll be cool.'_

_Instantly, Elliott felt much more relaxed. Somehow this strange girl had managed to put her at ease within five minutes of meeting her. 'You're right.' She ran her hand over her stomach. 'We'll get along fine. We won't need anybody.'

* * *

_

Elliott placed the steaming mug on the table without looking at Gary and returned to the kitchen counter without a word. He glanced up at her briefly and muttered a thanks, but he didn't touch it. Neither of them had said much other than menial conversation. Elliott had been nervous about talking to him outside, mainly because she knew if anyone saw him then Jimmy would probably find out and _that_ would be awkward. More than awkward; it would be carnage. She had had no choice but to invite him back to her flat to talk, and thankfully Rory had been understanding and allowed her to go, but now they were in the flat and he was sat at her dining table, she couldn't think of a single word to say to him.

It had been _ten years_ for God's sake. Ten whole years. It wasn't like you could just instantly crack open a conversation after that amount of time.

'Your flat's nice.' Gary said, probably finding the silence as excruciating as she did. 'Never thought I'd say that about a place in New Coventry.'

Elliott poured out her own coffee and kept her back to him. This was insane. It was so surreal. Last time she had seen him he had been lying semi-conscious on the floor of the principal's office, just after locking her in a classroom and causing chaos amongst the students of Bullworth. Granted it was a long time ago and looking back it seemed all so stupid and immature now, but still…

'So um…' Gary cleared his throat. 'Have you been living here since you finished school?'

Elliott turned around and leaned against the counter. She couldn't bring herself to sit at the table with him. She could barely bring herself to look at him properly. He hadn't changed much, apart from the fact he was taller and obviously looked older. He also looked terrible; tired and he hadn't shaved for a while. The scar across his eye looked a little darker than she remembered it, but that might just be because he was so pale.

'We moved in here about seven years ago,' she told him with a shrug. 'I was in a youth hostel until I was about nineteen. It's held up well. Never had many problems.'

Gary nodded and took a moment to look at her. Elliott felt uncomfortable under his gaze and turned away again. She busied herself by wiping up a small patch of spilled water. 'Bullworth hasn't changed much,' he commented. 'Not that I thought it would have.' He paused, waiting for a response. When he didn't get one he carried on. 'I thought the school might have been pulled down by now. Should of if you ask me. Bet it's still the worst school in the country, yeah?'

Elliott turned around. 'Gary, what the hell are you doing here?'

He scratched his head and glanced to the side. Noticing a framed picture on the wall above him, he sat back and looked at it. It was of Elliott and Reese. Gary looked at it for a moment before returning his attention to her. 'He's got your eyes.'

Elliott looked pained. She chewed anxiously on the inside of her mouth and then sat down on the other side of the table. She rubbed her face with both hands and sighed shakily. 'Gary…' she started, but then stopped when she realised she had nothing to say.

'He'll be about ten now, yeah?' Gary asked, looking at the photo again. 'He's a good looking kid. Obviously got that from his dad.'

Elliott closed her eyes and took in a breath. 'He's a good kid.' She told him.

'I'd like to meet him. If you hadn't already guessed that's why I came all this way. That and I needed an excuse to get away from work.'

His attempt at humour wasn't making Elliott feel any better. In fact it just made her feel worse. The way he was talking made it seem like it had only been a few days since she had last seen him, not a whole decade. 'Look,' she said, sitting back and frowning slightly at him. 'You can't do this.'

Gary raised his scarred eyebrow and picked up his mug. 'Do what?' he asked, innocently.

She gritted her teeth. 'You can't just…' She stopped and raised her hands in exasperation. 'You can't just _show up_ here, Gary! It's been ten frigging years! Did you think I was just going to welcome you back into my life? Let you into Reese's life like nothing happened?' She leaned forward. 'A lot has changed, Gary. And I mean _a lot_.'

Gary leaned forward too. 'I know it has, that's why I've shown up now. _I've_ changed. I want to get to know my son.'

Elliott rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. 'Don't call him that.'

'What? But he is-'

She looked up sharply. 'You don't even _know_ him.' She snarled. 'I can't believe you've just turned up like this! Why… Why the hell did you come here, Gary? Tell me honestly. Did you think I was going to be happy to see you? Did you think Reese and I were going to invite you in with open arms and have a nice happy little family or something?'

Gary looked confused. 'What's your problem? There's no need to be like this, Elliott. I only found out yesterday! I got a train straight here as soon as I heard! Give me a break.'

'Give you a _break_?' Elliott laughed humourlessly. 'Are you _kidding_ me? You were sent away to a frigging _nuthouse_. You think I want you round my kid? You're probably off your face on pills most of the time and…' She stopped and held her face in her hands. 'I'm sorry, I don't mean that. I just… Jesus… I can't believe this is happening…'

'Look, Elle… I know you're probably shocked. I feel exactly the same.' He laughed a little. 'I mean, come on, I've just found out I've got a kid. Doesn't happen every day.'

Elliott still refused to look at him. She sat back in her seat and chewed her thumbnail. 'Things have changed.' She told him again.

'I want to be there for Reese.' He told her. 'At least let me meet him. Or… or at least let him make the decision, yeah? Are you really going to stop him from meeting his dad? It's not really fair, is it?'

Elliott narrowed her eyes at him. 'It's not really fair you turning up like this, is it?'

'Yeah, well you've made that clear enough.' Gary straightened up in his seat and put his hands around the mug. He glanced around the room again and sighed. 'Is it okay if I use the bathroom?'

Elliott waved a hand. 'It's down the hall.' She told him distractedly.

He pushed himself out of the chair and left the room. Instantly Elliott moved forward and held her head in her hands. She had often wondered what would happen if Gary ever showed up again, but she had never truly believed that he would. She thought he would know better than that. Apparently not.

The fact he was back wasn't the worst thing though, despite her telling him so. The worst part was that when she had seen him in the café for the first time in ten years, she had been glad. It had only been for a moment, but she had definitely been happy to see him. That wasn't allowed. She was supposed to hate him. She had spent ten years convincing herself that she hated him. How the hell could all that be undone in a few minutes?

'Reese is a bit young to be shaving, isn't he?' Gary asked, returning with a new curious look on his face.

Elliott blinked at him. Her mind was too scattered to understand. 'What?'

He sat down and continued to watch her reaction. 'The shaving kit in the bathroom. You live here with someone else?'

Elliott winced. This was going to be a laugh. 'Well actually… I'm kind of seeing someone.'

Gary glanced down and nodded. 'Anyone I know?'

Elliott had to stop herself from bursting into a bout of nervous laughter. 'Actually…' she began.

The front door opened suddenly and forcefully, banging against the wall. Jimmy bustled in, not looking up as he closed the door behind him. 'Now Elliott,' he said breathlessly, sounding like he had sprinted up the stairs. 'I know you're going to be upset, but-'

He looked up and froze. Gary was also perfectly still, staring in shock at Jimmy. Jimmy looked from Gary to Elliott in bewilderment. The flat was horribly silent, and Elliott suddenly felt like she was going to throw up.


	7. Nothing Ever Goes To Plan

**Chapter Seven**

**Nothing Ever Goes To Plan**

Elliott stood up, warily looking from Jimmy to Gary and waited for a reaction. This didn't look good. Oh hell why had she brought Gary back to the flat? They could have gone anywhere. There were a million and one secluded places in Bullworth where this would never have happened.

'Okay,' she said nervously. 'Right. This is… awkward. The three of us can just sit down and talk, right? We're all adults now after all.'

Gary also stood up, staring at Jimmy. Although now it was more of a glare than a stare. Both he and Jimmy looked like a pair of dogs sizing each other up, ready to brawl. After a long antagonising silence, Gary broke it with a little chuckle.

'Well,' he smirked. 'Would you look at this. Happy families.'

Jimmy narrowed his eyes. 'Gary.' He snarled.

Gary almost grinned. 'Moron.' He replied brightly.

Jimmy started forward angrily, but Elliott intercepted him, placing her hand firmly on his chest. 'Stop it.' She frowned.

'Why'd you come back, Gary?' Jimmy scowled, jabbing a finger over Elliott's shoulder. 'Have you got a death wish or something?'

Gary just looked amused, although there was a faint looked of annoyance in his eyes. 'So you two finally hooked up, eh? Well that's just… beautiful. It really is.' He glanced around the flat. 'Although it doesn't look like you live here, Jimmy-boy. You're good for leaving a night bag in the bathroom but I can't see anything else that belongs to you…' He glanced back to Jimmy, grinning. 'Wait, are you a booty call?'

'I ought to beat the crap out of you,' Jimmy growled, advancing despite Elliott being in the way. '_Again_!'

'And Elliott,' Gary shook his head, mocking disappointment. 'Really, I thought you had better taste than that. I mean, _Jimmy_? Come on.'

Jimmy dove forward, his fist sailing easily through the air and catching Gary on the cheek. Gary stumbled back and slammed into the wall, knocking down three pictures and causing his coffee on the table to spill.

'_Jimmy_!' Elliott yelled.

Jimmy grabbed Gary by the front of his jacket. 'If you know what's good for you then you'll turn around and crawl back under the rock you came out from,' he snarled. 'You've got a nerve showing up here.'

Gary just chuckled, wiping at the corner of his mouth and checking the blood. 'Still the same old Jimmy, huh?' he smirked. 'All brawn and no brains.'

Jimmy punched him again in the middle of his face. Elliott ran to the two of them and grabbed Jimmy's arm, frantically trying to pull him off.

'Stop it!' she yelled.

Gary shoved Jimmy back hard, causing Elliott to stumble back into the bench. Jimmy quickly recovered and lunged at him again, but Gary quickly dodged causing him to knock into the small side table by the door. The vase on it fell off and crashed on the floor.

'_Stop it_!' Elliott shrieked, but she was ignored.

'Come on, Jimmy!' Gary laughed, blood now trickling from his nose. 'It doesn't even feel like you're trying.'

Jimmy grabbed him successfully this time and shoved him back onto the table. He slugged Gary again, blooding his own knuckles and blacking Gary's eye in the process. Gary didn't seem to be fighting back, but this didn't stop him.

'Jimmy!' Elliott screamed, practically in tears. 'Stop it! _Stop it right now_!'

Jimmy stopped suddenly, but it wasn't because of Elliott. He was looking at the door, anger slowly melting from his face. With tears on her cheeks, Elliott whirled around to see Reese in the doorway, staring at the scene in front of him blankly. Jimmy stepped back, ashamed. Gary propped himself up and stared at Reese in astonishment.

'Mom?' Reese said, quietly.

Elliott wiped at her eyes and moved towards him, trying to smile. 'What are you doing back?' she asked.

'I forgot my soccer boots,' he told her. 'I need them for this afternoon so Mr Crass said I could come and get them at lunchtime. What's going on? Why's Uncle Jimmy hitting that guy?'

Elliott wiped at her eyes again. 'Reese, just go to your room.' She told him, ushering him towards the corridor.

Reese resisted her and frowned at Gary. 'Who's he?' he asked. 'Mom, what's going-'

'Go to your _room_.' She said with more authority. 'Now, Reese.'

'But-'

'_Now_!'

Reese frowned at her, bottom lip sticking out a little. He opened his mouth to argue with her, but was interrupted by Jimmy.

'Do as your mom says, Reese.' Jimmy said.

Reese glanced around once more, eyeing Gary curiously, and then marched away down the corridor. His bedroom door slammed shut noisily. Jimmy looked to Elliott.

'I didn't… I didn't want him to see that-' he started.

'Get out.' Elliott told him, firmly. 'Get the hell out.'

'Elliott-'

'_Now_!' she yelled, pointing at the door but looking at the floor. 'Both of you! Get the fuck out!'

Jimmy's eyes briefly darkened and he nodded firmly. 'Right. Whatever.' He muttered, and then stormed out. Gary lingered by the table for a moment, prodding at his bloody nose.

'I can come back later.' He suggested.

'_Get out_!' she screamed at him.

Gary eyed her for a moment and then headed to the door. He walked out, closing in behind him. Elliott instantly collapsed into one of the chairs by the table and burst into tears.

* * *

Jimmy paced on the sidewalk, fists balled by his sides and watched the front door angrily. He couldn't believe that that bastard had really shown his face. He had been hoping that Johnny had just made a mistake. And to make the news even worse he found Gary and Elliott _together_, sitting at the table drinking coffee! Was she completely insane? The amount of times that she had said she would kill him if she saw him again, and they were sitting _chatting_?

Jimmy refused to believe it. Gary had no right to turn up now. None at all.

Gary emerged from the front door, wiping at his bloody nose with the sleeve of his jacket. He didn't seem surprised to see Jimmy waiting for him. In fact, he seemed quite pleased.

'Just like old times, eh?' he smirked.

Jimmy moved close to him. 'Get the hell out of Bullworth.' He growled. 'I see you anywhere near Elliott and Reese again and I'll kill you, got that?'

Gary shrugged. 'I think I have a right to see my own kid, don't you?'

Jimmy had started to leave, but he whirled on Gary again furiously. 'He's not _your kid_,' he hissed. 'Reese will never be your kid. You deserves better than a scumbag like you.'

Gary frowned darkly. 'And since when do you have a say?'

'Since I was there for him,' Jimmy told him. 'Since I changed his diapers. Since I helped him ride a bike. Since I took him to school every single morning. Did you do any of that, huh? You think you can just show up and Reese will automatically see you as his dad? You must have gotten crazier since the last time I saw you.' He turned away, shaking his head. 'I can't believe you're stupid enough to come back here.'

Gary was scowling now. 'You're such a happy family, are you?' he asked. 'You've always been there for Reese, have you? Then why are you letting the two of them live in that shitty flat? It's obvious you don't live there yourself. I bet you have a mansion in the Vale or something. Yeah, the three of you make a real good family unit.'

Jimmy glared at him. 'You shut your mouth.'

'Let me tell you what it looks like to me.' Gary said, going back to wiping at his nose that was still bleeding a little. 'Reese likes you, that much is obvious. Elliott though… well, surely if the two of your were so solid she would have told me straight away that she was with you. But she didn't. Actually… I think her exact words were, I'm _kind_ of seeing someone. Important words there are _kind of_. Surely if she was that serious about you she would have said I _am_ seeing someone, or at least told me straight away before inviting me back to her flat. You think so?'

Jimmy's jaw was clenched firmly. 'You shut up.' He told him.

Gary smirked, happy that he was succeeding in getting at him. 'You know what I think? I think she's just gotten used to having you around. Face it, Jimmy, you're the fallback guy. She's never made a commitment to you because she's always known that I would come back sooner or later.'

Jimmy shoved him hard. Gary stumbled back and slammed into the brick wall, cracking his head. He grunted with the pain but didn't let it show. He just smirked at Jimmy.

'I guess that means you agree with me, huh?'

Jimmy grabbed him by his collar and lifted his fist again.

'Kick his ass!' a young voice yelled from across the street.

'Go on, end that guy!' another chimed in.

Jimmy glanced over his shoulder to see a small group of kids in Bullworth Academy uniforms watching excitedly. He hesitated, and then let go of Gary. 'This is your last warning.' He snarled at him. 'Get away from here.'

Gary just smirked at him. Jimmy glared at him for a moment longer and then went to his car. He climbed in, shot Gary one last dark stare, and then pulled away from the sidewalk, ignoring the kids calling him a wuss and a chicken from across the street.

Gary's smirk faded and he frowned deeply. He straightened up the front of his jacket and walked out into the street, glancing over his shoulder at the apartment building behind him. Elliott peered out of the blinds at him. He suppressed a grin and turned away, heading up the street with his hands in his pockets.


	8. Beaten Down Pride

**A/N:** I'm curious to who everyone is rooting for in this story; Gary or Jimmy? Or should they both sling their hooks and Elliott can go look up Derby in the phonebook? xD

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

**Beaten Down Pride**

Elliott leaned against the wall outside of Reese's room and knocked on the door for the third time.

'Reese, honey,' she said gently. 'Are you going to let me in?'

'Go away!' Was Reese's response, as it had been twice already. 'I'm not talking to you! And I'm not going back to school!

Elliott closed her eyes and sighed. She felt like she was ready to explode into tears again, but that wouldn't do any good. Reese got upset when she did and it would hardly make the situation any better if she sat bawling like a baby. She needed to get over herself, at least until she had gotten a chance to talk to Reese and try to explain what was happening.

'Come on, sweetie,' she tried again. 'Open the door. You can't sit in there all day.'

'I said I'm not talking to you! Reese replied angrily. 'You yelled at me and I hadn't even done anything!'

'I know, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, I was… Mommy was just a bit upset that's all.'

'I don't care. You're not coming in.'

Elliott sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. 'I got some ice cream this morning. You want some?'

'Go away!'

'Reese, please. I'm sorry. Open the door.'

He didn't shout back at her. He must have been able to hear the pain in her voice because after a moment the lock clicked back. Elliott hesitated, and then pushed open the door. Reese was sitting on the bed with his legs crossed, picking grimly at the bottom of his shoes. She remained in the doorway, unsure of how to start. Unexpectedly, he started for her.

'That man that Jimmy was hitting,' he said in a quiet voice. 'He's my dad, isn't he?'

Elliott glanced down. Sometimes she forgot just how sharp Reese was. That was why he was upset. It had nothing to do with the fact that Elliott had shouted at him. It was because he had known what was going on as soon as his eyes fell on Gary. 'Yes,' she replied. 'He is.'

Reese half nodded and screwed up half his nose. 'Where's he been?' he asked after a moment. 'Didn't he want to see me?'

Elliott looked at him sadly and crossed the room to the bed, sitting beside him. She watched him for a moment and then brushed his hair back. 'He's here because he wants to see you. It's just… complicated.' She paused, unsure of how to go on. 'You know when you sometimes can't sit still and you get all restless? Like… you can't keep your concentration for very long?'

Reese frowned vaguely. 'I try hard not too.' He told her. 'I can't help it.'

'I know, I know,' She stroked his cheek. 'It's just, your dad has the same thing. Only it made him go a bit funny and he had to go away for a while. A long while.'

Reese glanced up to her. 'So he's crazy?'

'No.' Elliott replied. 'Well… it's been a while since I've seen him so I don't really know if he's gotten better or not…'

'Is that why Uncle Jimmy was hitting him? Because he's crazy?'

'No. It's because they didn't get along before.'

Reese sat quietly for a moment, frowning in thought. 'Will I have to go away too?'

'What? No! Of course not, Reese!' She pulled him into a hug. 'You don't have to go anywhere. Don't even think that.'

Reese nodded against her shoulder and sat back, peeling her arms off her. 'So Jimmy doesn't like my dad much, huh?'

'Not really.' Elliott shrugged. 'They just haven't seen each other for a while either.'

'Is that why you won't marry Jimmy?'

She rubbed her face and fought the lump in her throat, which now felt more like a golf ball. 'It's complicated, honey.' She said, quietly.

Reese returned his attention to his shoes. He sat quietly for a few minutes before looking up again. 'I think I'd like to meet my dad.' He said finally.

Elliott nodded. She had been expecting that. 'If that's what you want.'

Reese burrowed under her arm and rested his head against her chest, wrapping his arms around her waist. She hugged him back and closed her eyes tightly.

* * *

'How many nights you after? I only got one person staying at the moment, so you can take your pick of the rooms. But I have a six day rule. No one stays after six days, cos you can be sure they'll set up house in that room if you let them stay longer than that. Motel rooms are cheaper than paying rent on a house y'know, kiddo.'

The man in the office of the motel between New Coventry and Bullworth Town was short and almost skeletal, with thick oversized glasses that seemed to push his nose flat. His eyes were huge behind them, but he still had to squint to get a good look at Gary. Gary guessed that he still couldn't see him well because he didn't seem at all bothered that he was currently covered in his own blood.

'I'll just pay for the two for now.' Gary replied, handing him ten dollars. 'That'll be enough, right?'

'If you're tipping me four bucks it will be.' The man replied in his husky voice. 'I dropped my prices when this place because listed. They can't shut me down, so why the heck should I charge through the nose, huh?'

Gary cocked an eyebrow. Three dollars a night. This place really must be a dump. 'I'll pay for three nights then.' He decided.

The man snorted noisily and plucked a raggy dollar bill from somewhere beneath the counter. 'No rules.' He shrugged. 'Just keep it down. Don't come whinin' to me if you pick up some tramp and she takes all your stuff. If she takes anything out of the room you'll have to replace it.' He handed over the dollar and a grimy key with the number 5 attached to it.

'Sure.' Gary muttered, taking the key and the money. 'Whatever, mister.'

The old man just snorted noisily again. Gary left the office and walked along the row of rooms. Half of them had numbers missing, but he eventually found five at the other end. It didn't even seem like the room numbers were in order. The door was already unlocked, which wasn't really that much of a surprise. Gary stood in the doorway and regarded the sullen, run down room. Wasn't much different from home.

He closed the door and pulled off his jacket, tossing it on the bed. He made his way through to the bathroom and immediately began to clean the blood from his face. It had dried and was starting to itch his skin. As he washed he reflected on what had just happened. Elliott hadn't changed much; her hair was longer and she was thinner, but she still pretty much looked the same. Just tired and drawn. Something about her must have changed though because she was with Jimmy. Of all the guys in Bullworth and she had ended up with _him_. Jimmy Hopkins, the only person on the planet who Gary completely and utterly hated with every fibre of his being. It was like some kind of sick joke. He could almost swear that they had seen him coming and just set it up. No way it was all just coincidence.

It wasn't the fact that Elliott had ended up with Jimmy that damaged Gary's pride so much; it was the fact that Jimmy had practically appointed himself as Reese's father. That hurt. It stung like a bitch.

Reese. Wow. He looked like one hell of a kid. He was only ten but if Gary hadn't known any better he would have aged him at about fourteen. He was broad across the shoulders and tall too. He had Gary's hair and his face was shaped the same. In fact he was Gary's double, only he had bright blue eyes like Elliott. Sharp eyes; smart eyes.

Gary leaned on the basin and stared at his face in the mirror. Drops of water dripped from the end of his nose directly into the plughole. His bottom lip was cut and his left eye was already looking a little puffy. He hadn't been in Bullworth three hours and already he had had his face rearranged. Made him wonder what it was going to be like the next time he ran into Jimmy. Actually he knew what it was going to be like because this time he was going to be ready for it.

Gary frowned at the sound of a knock coming from the motel room. He hesitated and then moved away from the basin, peering out of the bathroom. There was another knock, this one a little more urgent. Gary debated whether or not to answer. It could be Jimmy again. This time he probably wouldn't stop if they started fighting again…

So what? Gary was stronger than he had been when he was fifteen. Jimmy wasn't that tough anymore. He knew he could take him. But still…

'Gary?' Elliott's voice called tentatively. 'If you're there will you open up?'

Gary moved to the door quickly and pulled it open. He blinked at Elliott, who just looked up at him with wide eyes. She looked even paler than she had done earlier and she also looked nervous and fidgety. Scared that someone might see her, obviously.

_Didn't take her long_, he thought, slightly amused.

'I can't stay,' she said quickly. 'I told Reese I was only going to the store. I um…' She stopped and then shook her head. 'I don't even know why I came here…'

Gary stepped aside. 'You can come in.' he told her.

She shook her head firmly. 'Jimmy will be back soon. If I'm not there he'll…' She trailed off.

Gary narrowed one eye. 'How did you know I was here?'

She half smiled. 'It's three dollars a night.'

He half nodded. The two of them stood there for a moment, saying nothing.

'I can meet you tomorrow.' Elliott said suddenly, and a little quickly. 'In the Vale. Jimmy hardly goes there. There's a bar on the water front-'

'I know it.' Gary nodded.

She blinked. 'Good. Well… Reese gets to school at about nine. Jimmy drops him off and goes straight to the garage. Rory probably won't mind if I don't turn in again tomorrow morning so… about ten?'

'Sounds okay.'

'Good.' She swallowed, looking visibly uncomfortable. 'Well… I guess I'll see you there then.' She eyed him a second longer and then turned away.

'Elle,' Gary said, stopping her. She glanced at him nervously, like a cornered rabbit. He offered her a smile. 'It's good to see you again.'

She only continued to look at him in that same, slightly apprehensive and bewildered way, and then half nodded. 'Yeah.' She mumbled, and then quickly headed away across the parking lot.

He watched her go, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. He had known that it would be easy to get Elliott to sit down and hear him out. The problem now was Jimmy, but he could be easily dealt with.

He continued to watch her until she had disappeared, and then returned inside and shut the door.

* * *

'Whoa man,' Peanut muttered, narrowing his eyes. 'Jimmy's not gonna be very happy.'

Johnny stood beside Peanut across the street from the motel, halfway up the steps that ran behind the old abandoned movie theatre. The two Greasers watched as Elliott quickly hurried away from the partially delapidated building and turned the corner towards New Coventry. Johnny glared thoughtfully at Gary Smith, who was also watching her leave from the door of his three dollar a night motel room.

'Jimmy's not going to know about it,' Johnny said around the cigarette between his lips. 'The guy has enough troubles without this shit.'

Peanut glanced to Johnny with a frown. 'You mean you're just going to stand back and let Gary get away with this? No way, man. We owe Jimmy.'

Johnny frowned and blew a steady stream of smoke out of his nostrils. 'We'll sort it out for him, Peanut. We'll get rid of that crazy bastard before he causes any more trouble.'

'How?'

Johnny flashed his friend a brief grin. 'You just make sure you meet me here tonight.' He said, pushing away from the wall. He headed away and pitched the half smoked cigarette away. 'And bring something solid. We'll make that little sneak wish he'd never come back to this dumb town.'

'Okay, Johnny.' Peanut called after him. 'I'll be here.'

Johnny half grinned at the motel as he headed back down into New Coventry. It had been too long since he had been able to teach someone a lesson. It was nice to know that Bullworth still could be interesting.


	9. Little White Lies

**A/N:** Ah, so the majority are on Gary's side eh? Well... you're not going to like this chapter much xD Thanks for the reviews everyone, I have strawberry jelly for all you mega munchkins :D

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

**Little White Lies**

The grey and white cat on the television released a loud _'Yeeoww!'_ as its tail was snapped in the gigantic mousetrap that the little brown mouse had set. Reese smiled, his chin resting on his forearms. He lay on his stomach on the floor, legs kicking back and forth behind him. The grey cat went on to try and grab the small rodent, only to slam into the wall and fold up like a concertina. Reese chuckled in amusement.

Elliott glanced up briefly from her seat at the table in the dining room, and then went back to writing out her fifteenth CV. Of course places tended to prefer typed up CVs, but she didn't currently have access to a computer, so hand written would have to do. But hand-written CVs had their drawbacks; you make a mistake and you have to start all over. Elliott was making a lot of mistakes, hence this being her fifteenth attempt.

She sighed and glanced to the clock. Nearly nine. Jimmy hadn't returned, which had been quite surprising. She had toyed with the idea that he had seen her go to the motel to see Gary, but she knew that Jimmy wasn't the kind of person to skulk away and brood on his own. If he had seen he would have been there in a shot to finish Gary off. No, he definitely hadn't seen her. She didn't have to worry about that.

More likely he was waiting for Reese to go to bed. He had been embarrassed for Reese to see him the way he had; blood on his knuckles and raw anger on his face. Jimmy didn't like to fight in front of Reese because he felt it encouraged him to do the same thing. That was true, but Jimmy's reputation alone was enough to encourage Reese to fight. He wanted to be just like his Uncle Jimmy.

'Bed time.' Elliott said, finally giving up on the CV when she somehow managed to misspell _waitress._ She leaned back in the chair and pushed the pen behind her ear. 'Hey, mister. I said bed time.'

Reese looked over his shoulder sulkily. 'But it's only nine o'clock!'

'Exactly. Bed time.' Elliott repeated. 'Go on. Don't make me stand in the bathroom while you wash up and change into your jammies.'

Reese frowned. 'But I'm _ten_! Shouldn't that mean I can go to bed at ten?'

'Nope, you go to bed at nine. Unless you want to sit and watch boring mom shows with me until ten. There's something great about drapes and throws on the style channel. Ooh, I know, you can help me make a patchwork blanket. I've got a thimble somewhere you can borrow…'

'Okay,' Reese grumbled. 'I'm going. Geez mom, you're such a buzz kill.'

'I can only be a buzz kill when you're buzzing,' Elliott replied. 'And you come in this house buzzing and I'll give you a thick ear.'

Reese only rolled his eyes and dragged himself towards her. 'Night then.' He kissed her half-heartedly on her cheek and then headed towards his room.

'Goodnight, honey,' she called after him. 'And lights off at half nine! I'll be checking!'

'Man you're like a prison guard.' Reese muttered as he disappeared through the door.

Elliott listened as he went into the bathroom and closed the door. She smirked as the lock clicked. He had only started locking the bathroom door. Pretty soon he would be throwing temper tantrums and brooding over girls. She shook her head and she glanced back down at the pile of useless CVs in front of her. Ten years. Felt more like ten minutes.

Her small smile faded as her mind wandered back to the day's events. She still couldn't believe that Gary was back in Bullworth. It felt like she was going to wake up any minute and realise this was all nothing but a bad dream. Jimmy would be there; pestering her into borrowing money and leaving this crummy flat and she could carry on slaving in the café and searching for another job without any distractions. Without any Gary-shaped distractions.

Oh God, she had arranged to meet him tomorrow. Why the hell had she done that? She had gone to the motel without thinking at all. He had reduced her into a mindless wreck already, and she had only seen him for about thirty minutes in total. She recognised the bewildering urge to see him; she had felt it nearly every day from when she had first met him until the day he had been sent away. She didn't know _why_ she wanted to see him, she just knew she wanted to. Elliott had thought that feeling had gone when he had, but it had never gone. She had just ignored it.

But it was hard to ignore something that was staying around the corner.

The familiar jingle of keys at the front door make her look up. There was a click, a pause, and then the door slowly opened. Elliott watched as Jimmy stepped inside, not looking up as he closed the door behind him. He gently put the keys on the table beside the door, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. Elliott waited for him to speak because she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

'I know you said you wanted a quiet night,' he said finally. 'But I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I tried.'

Elliott nodded and stood up. 'You want a coffee?'

Finally he looked up at her. His expression was unreadable. 'Yeah, thanks.'

She went to the kitchen counter, relieved that she could busy herself while she spoke. Jimmy had always been very good at reading her, and if he looked at her face for too long he would probably be able to figure out that she had seen Gary again after she had kicked them both out earlier.

'I'm sorry about… you know.' Jimmy sat at the table and glanced at the pile of papers. He picked one up and glanced at it. 'I don't like Reese seeing me like that.'

Elliott unscrewed the coffee jar and flicked the kettle on. Of course he wouldn't apologise for beating Gary up. 'It's okay. Reese was just a bit confused, but he's pretty much forgotten about it all now. He's just watched TV all afternoon.'

'He didn't go back to school?'

She frowned slightly at Jimmy's disapproving tone and glanced to him. 'I couldn't very well send him back after he'd just seen his dad for the very first time in his life, could I?'

Jimmy returned the frown and looked down. 'So you told him, huh?'

Elliott sighed and returned to making the coffee. 'I didn't actually. He's not stupid, Jimmy. He knew what was going on.'

'Course he did.' Jimmy muttered apologetically.

Elliott kept her back to him as she waited for the kettle to finish boiling. It seemed to take forever. 'How did you know Gary was in town anyway?'

'Johnny and Peanut saw him.' Jimmy grunted. 'He walked right past the garage.'

She had completely forgotten about the two Greasers. They were frighteningly loyal to Jimmy. Actually she was surprised that they hadn't jumped on Gary as soon as they had seen him. 'Oh.' She said when she realised Jimmy was waiting for a reaction from her.

'Elliott,' he sighed, sounding exasperated. 'Why the hell did you bring him to the flat?'

'Well what did you expect me to do, Jimmy?' she frowned, banging the spoon down on the counter and pouring the kettle out into the mugs. 'Tell him to get lost? Punch him in the face like you did?'

'Well, yeah!'

'Well I couldn't.' She picked up the two mugs and took them to the table, putting them down with more force than she had intended. A little spilled out of Jimmy's mug but she ignored it and sat down. 'I guess I have a little more self control than you do.'

'Doesn't sound like it, seeing as you brought him straight home.'

Elliott scowled. 'Don't you start-' She stopped herself, realising that she was nearly shouting. She bit the insides of her cheeks until she had cooled off a little and then shook her head. 'I'm not going to argue with you, Jimmy. The last thing Reese needs today is to listen to us arguing again.'

Jimmy nodded. 'You're right.' He paused. 'I'm sorry.'

'Yeah, me too.'

They both sat in silence for a little while, looking into their coffees.

'So I take it you've told Reese that he won't be meeting him.'

Elliott put her mug down, which she had raised to blow the steam from. 'I'm sorry?' she asked, incredulously.

Jimmy blinked at her. 'You can't…' He stopped, and then blinked again. 'You can't _seriously_ be thinking of introducing them. Are you? God, Elliott, he's a _psycho_! Even Happy Volts didn't want him!'

'Look, you've done a lot for Reese and I, and we appreciate it. You know we do. But as much as you want to be you're _not_ his dad, Jimmy! It's not up to you to make these kind of decisions! You sit there and talk about sending him to see therapists and… and it's not up to you! These are _my_ decisions. _I'm_ his mother. Gary is his father, and Reese has a right to make his own mind up about him.'

Jimmy's brow was creased deeply and he had balled his fists on either side of his coffee mug. 'I know that,' he said darkly, as if unhappy of behind reminded. 'But you can't seriously-'

'It's not me anyway,' Elliott said, looking down. 'Reese wants to meet him.'

Jimmy had nothing to say to that.

'Which means that I'll have to meet up with Gary again to arrange something.'

Jimmy snorted, clearly not happy about that. 'Let me do it.'

'What, so the pair of you can beat the crap out of each other?' Elliott shot at him. 'Not frigging likely. I want this to be as painless as possible. Come on, it was going to happen sooner or later. You knew it would. We both did.'

Jimmy leaned back and folded his arms grumpily. 'You would think that you were _waiting_ for him to come back.'

Elliott sighed and held her face in her hands. 'Don't, Jimmy. Please. I can't fight with you. I'm too tired. I'm just…' She sighed again, feeling that familiar lump in her throat. She heard Jimmy shift into the chair beside her and a moment later she felt his warm arm around her shoulder. She turned and cuddled into him. 'I just can't believe it.' She said into his shoulder.

'It'll be okay,' Jimmy told her. 'Like you said, it was going to happen eventually.'

'Yeah well it's not fair,' Elliott said, surprised at the sharpness in her own voice. She lifted her head so her chin rested on his shoulder and she gripped him tighter. 'It's not fair for him to just show up like this. Not now. Not after all this time…'

Jimmy hugged her tighter before gently pushing her back. He put his hands on her cheeks and pushed her blonde hair back. 'It's going to be okay,' he told her again. 'I promise. I'll make sure it is.'

She smiled appreciatively and kissed him. 'Thanks, Jimmy. I'm glad you came back.'

He pulled her into a hug again. 'I couldn't stay away.' He replied.

Elliott hooked her arms under his and hugged him back. Her smile disappeared as she contemplated telling him about her arranged meeting with Gary tomorrow morning.

Maybe she would keep that to herself. Just for now.

* * *

Gary lay on the hard and lumpy motel bed and stared up at the ceiling. He would have put the TV on, at least for a little background noise, but some clever soul had pulled off the plug. He listened to the faint police sirens in New Coventry and wondered if he could get away with heading back to Elliott's flat at this time. She had said Jimmy was going back there, but she could have just been saying that to try and deter him from returning. What good would it do anyway? He didn't have anything to say that couldn't wait until tomorrow. And at least tomorrow there was no chance of Jimmy showing up and ruining everything.

Gary wished he had given Jimmy a beating. God knows he would have savoured every single punch that was landed, but it wouldn't have done well in his favour if one of the first things he had done upon meeting Elliott again was beat the crap out of Jimmy. Ideally he would have liked to have beaten Jimmy senseless about ten years ago, but that ship had sailed.

He had distinguished a strange, unfamiliar feeling in his stomach earlier and had been bewildered to discover that he was actually nervous about tomorrows meeting. He didn't think he had ever been nervous in his whole life. But then again this was a pretty big thing; he was going to meet his son. How was Reese going to react to him? Did he even _want_ to see him?' If Gary were in his shoes he certainly wouldn't want to meet his deadbeat dad who had been absent his whole life. But Gary knew Reese wouldn't have that reaction. The kid had that same curious gleam in his eyes that Elliott had had when Gary had first met her. That same gleam that had made it so easy for him to win her over.

Elliott had been so intrigued by him back at school because she couldn't figure him out, but Gary had figured her out right away. She had her own idea of what people were like; she knew how they worked; how they ticked. If she met someone that she couldn't fathom out she was instantly intrigued by them, and Gary had been _impossible_ to understand. To her, he was completely alien, and she had made it her mission to try and suss him. She hadn't, of course, and that was why she was still intrigued by him now. Maybe she even still loved him a bit. He knew she had done at one point, even if they had been young and stupid.

Gary might not like people, but he understood them perfectly.

A knock on the door roused him from his thoughts and he turned his eyes to it without moving his head. It was a heavy knock. A singular, heavy knock. Elliott had knocked lightly and quickly, so it definitely wasn't her.

He glanced to the clock. It was nine thirty.

Could it be Jimmy? Possibly, but Gary doubted that Jimmy would be able to figure out that he had come to this motel. He still seemed to be the same dumb old thug as he had been at school. Maybe it was the guy from the office? If so, what the hell would he want?

Another knock. Gary sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He could sit and pretend that he wasn't there, but that wasn't his style. With his dark eyebrows drawn together, he stood up and moved to the door. Upon opening it, he instantly regretted his decision.

'Well hey there, Gary,' Johnny Vincent grinned. 'Me and Peanut were just passing and we thought we could smell ourselves a rat.'

Before Gary could react, Johnny punched him hard in the face, causing him to stumble back into the motel room. He stepped inside, followed by Peanut who glanced outside before shutting the door. Johnny straightened his left arm and a metal pipe slid out of his sleeve. He gripped it tightly and grinned at Gary.

'You're gonna wish you stayed in your shitty bed sit in Cuckoo Land, sunshine.' Johnny told him, and then raised the pipe.


	10. Don't Kid Yourself

**Chapter Ten**

**Don't Kid Yourself**

Elliott looked impatiently at her watch and was frustrated to see that it still told her that it was thirty-five minutes past ten, the same as it had been what felt like hours ago. She checked with the clock above the bar to make sure her watch wasn't just lying to her, but the clock said the same thing. She drummed her fingers on the tabletop and glanced out of the window. The local bus trundled by without stopping at the bus stop. It moved on leaving Elliott looking out over the beach. She watched the still water for a moment, and then checked her watch again.

Ten thirty-six.

She tried to tell herself that he was just running late, but how could he be running late? What else did he have to do?

Elliott sat back, feeling like an idiot. Had she really thought that Gary would show up? He hadn't changed. God knows why he had came back to Bullworth, but it certainly wasn't to see her or Reese. It wouldn't surprise her if he had come back just to see if she would still give him the time of day. Humiliatingly she had gone running to his motel room to arrange this stupid meeting and probably played right into his twisted little game. She felt foolish for blundering into this so blindly and guilty for going behind Jimmy's back. Had she really thought that someone like Gary Smith could change?

The painful truth was that she _had_ thought he could change.

Clenching her jaw in frustration she pushed herself up from her seat and shouldered her bag. She ignored the curious stare of the young barman and hurried out onto the street. She could still get to the café and at least attempt to salvage the rest of her morning by doing something productive, but she knew as soon as she started walking down the street that she wasn't going to be going to work.

That _bastard_. If he thought he could come crashing into her life just to mess her around again then he had another thing coming. If he wasn't going to come to her, she would go to him. And she was going to give him hell.

* * *

The garage was unusually quiet this morning, which unsettled Jimmy. It wasn't as if it was usually full of conversation, but there was something about Johnny and Peanut's behaviour today that was slightly perplexing. Johnny seemed to be strangely pleased about something. He was walking tall, shoulders squared and chest puffed out more than usual. Peanut was pretty much his usual self, just quieter and seemed to be aiming more dumb grins at Johnny than he usually did.

It didn't take a genius to work out that they were up to something, but frankly Jimmy didn't give a damn what they were up to. As long as they got the work done they could strip naked and run into the street for all he cared.

'Hey, Jim.' Johnny said, appearing in the door of the office.

Jimmy glanced up from the papers he had been pretending to look at. 'What is it?' he asked, sharper than he had intended.

Johnny shrugged. 'How's Elliott doin?'

Jimmy looked at him for a moment, troubled by the slight smirk that was playing on his face. 'Okay.' He replied. 'Look, did you sort out that Sedan? Cos I've had that bitch on the phone twice already asking when it's going to be done.'

'Yeah, yeah,' Johnny replied, waving a hand dismissively. 'Look, you seen that Gary Smith any more?'

Jimmy shook his head. 'I don't want to talk about it, Johnny.'

Johnny leaned against the doorframe and shrugged. 'Maybe he saw sense and skipped town.' He suggested. 'When he realised that no one really wants him around.'

Jimmy eyed Johnny for a moment. 'Why are you so interested in him anyway?'

'Just curious, I guess.' He shrugged. 'Not much happens round here these days. I remember when there was always something to keep a guy occupied in Bullworth. Place has kinda gotten boring in the last couple of years.'

Jimmy continued to watch him thoughtfully. Johnny was hinting to something, but Jimmy couldn't be bothered to figure out what it was. He just shook his head. 'Just buzz off, Johnny. I'm busy.'

Johnny smirked. 'Sure, Jimmy.' He started to leave. 'Oh, uh… y'know, Jim…' He flashed a knowing grin. 'Don't worry about Gary. I don't think he's gonna stick around long. Psychos like him don't change.'

Jimmy frowned. Johnny just chuckled and disappeared, allowing the door to close behind him.

* * *

Elliott almost lost her bottle by the time she reached the motel. She stood in the car park, staring at the practically derelict building and clutched onto the strap of her bag. She chewed anxiously on her bottom lip.

_Right_, she told herself. _If you're going in there, you're going in with guns blazing. You're going to kick his ass if you have to. Don't get all soft brained and start pecking out of his hand like a dumb chicken. You're going to give him hell._

'Give him hell.' She mumbled, and then quickly marched towards room number five.

She rapped hard on the flimsy wood, hurting her knuckles. She frowned at them and then switched hands a knocked again. 'Gary?' she called. 'Open the door.'

She stopped to listen. At first there was no sound, and she began to wonder if he really _had_ been running late and he was at the bar right now, thinking that she hadn't showed. She allowed herself to momentarily believe this scenario, until she heard a thud on the other side of the door. Feeling a new flush of anger and knocked again, this time ignoring the pain in her knuckles.

'Open up.' She called. 'I'm not going anywhere until you open the door.'

Another light thump, but no answer.

'You can't do stuff like this,' she heard herself telling the door. 'If you think I'm going to let you play with mine and Reese's lives like this then you've got another thing coming. I'm not the same easily-led moron that I was at school, Gary. I'm not going to follow you around like some retarded little puppy to see what you have planned.' She waited to see if he would answer, but he didn't. This time she tried the handle but as she had expected it was locked. 'Okay, I'm going to put this to you. I know you're in there. If you really came here to see Reese then this is your only chance to see him. If you don't open this door right now then I won't let you see him. I don't care what he says. So what is it gonna be, Gary?'

Elliott waited. She felt a heavy disappointment when about ten seconds went by with no response. Frowning deeply, she stepped away.

'Fine.' She said firmly. 'Enjoy the rest of your life.'

She hadn't even turned away when she heard the lock click back. She stopped and watched as the door opened, but there was no one there. She peered in the dark, stale smelling motel room but didn't go inside.

'Well are you coming in or what?' Gary's voice asked from behind the door. He sounded different, somehow.

Elliott hesitated, and then stepped inside. She glanced around, taking in the miserable dirty beige walls and the flat uncomfortable looking bed. 'Christ,' she mumbled. 'I thought my flat was depressing.'

'Then you'd probably hang yourself if you saw my flat.' Gary replied from behind her. He sounded throaty.

Elliott turned around, and her hand immediately shot to her mouth in surprise. She gasped involuntarily. 'Oh my… _Jesus_! Gary, what the hell happened to you?'

The right side of his face was puffed up, his eye practically swelled shut. His other eye was a shiny dark purple colour and he had a nasty looking cut beneath it on his cheek. He had another cut on his forehead, this one smaller but looking deeper. He was holding one arm up to his chest and seemed to be favouring one leg. Jimmy had landed a few nasty looking punches on Gary when they had fought in her flat, but no way could they have done this amount of damage. Instinctively Elliott moved to him to examine his injuries closer. She reached up and pushed his hair back to look at the cut on his forehead.

'Gary… Oh man… You need stitches! Look, your head is still bleeding! Who did this to you?'

He just shook his head and moved away. 'Really should have expected it, coming here.' He replied, limping slightly as he moved to the bed. He sat down with a wince and put his finger to the cut on his head, checking to see if it really was bleeding. 'Wasn't exactly expecting a parade.'

Elliott stared at him in shock. He hadn't just been beaten up; he looked like he had been beaten to an inch of his life. And it certainly wasn't the work of just one person. She put her bag down on the floor and pulled off her coat, draping it over the television. Still examining his injuries from a distance, she rolled up her sleeves. 'Are there towels in the bathroom?' she asked.

Gary shrugged. 'Yeah. Can't tell you what colour they used to be though.'

Elliott went to the bathroom and pulled one from the rack above the toilet. They were pretty grubby, but they weren't disgusting. She soaked one through and rung it out, putting a dry one over her shoulder. She returned to the main room and sat down beside Gary.

He shot her an impatient frown. 'Get away with that stuff,' he sighed. 'I don't need nursing.'

'Shut up.' She told him sternly, and then took his chin in her hand. He pushed her hand away, but she just grabbed him again and frowned. 'If you don't keep still I'll puff up your other eye so you won't be able to see me kicking your ass.'

Gary half smiled in amusement, and then winced as she dabbed at the cut on his forehead with the wet towel. 'Gently.' He frowned.

Elliott just shook her head and sighed. 'Who did this?' she asked.

'No one.'

'Oh, so you just had one major slapstick accident, did you? Let me guess, you slipped on a banana skin.'

Gary frowned and took the towel. He pushed her hand away and dabbed at his head himself. He didn't seem surprised to see blood on the towel. 'You thought I stood you up, didn't you?' he asked. 'That's why you nearly kicked my door down.'

'Of course I thought you'd stood me up.' Elliott snapped. 'What the hell else was I supposed to think? I don't think I need to tell you that you're not the most trustworthy person in the world, Gary.'

He glanced at her, looking mildly annoyed, and then checked the towel again. 'And you're just Miss Dependable, aren't you? I bet Jimmy thinks you're at work.'

Elliott grimaced and stood up. 'Oh screw you, Gary.' She said, grabbing her coat from on top of the TV.

Gary sighed. 'Don't go all drama queen on me. Come on. Sit down.'

She paused and looked at him, and then put her coat back down. Instead of sitting back down beside him she leaned against the dresser and crossed her arms. 'The only reason I'm here is to arrange a day for you to meet Reese.' She said firmly. 'That's it. Although I think we should wait until you look less… grisly.'

Gary smirked. 'I'm sure the kid's got a strong stomach.'

Elliott watched him as he put the wet towel down and picked up the dry one. 'Do you want me to take you to the emergency room?' she asked. 'You should really get checked out. This non-entity that beat the crap out of you did a pretty good job.'

He looked up at her, amused. She instantly felt a pang in her chest, and suddenly she felt like she was fifteen again. How did he do it? How could he make her brain practically stop working with one look?

'I'm not sitting in some grimy Bullworth hospital just so some pervert old guy in a white coat can grab my balls and tell me to cough.' He dabbed his head. 'I'll be fine. I've had worse than this. You didn't get a proper look at me after I dropped through into Crabblesnitch's office. I was picking glass out of my chest for weeks.'

Elliott cast her eyes down. She didn't like to think about that day. 'Well I think you're stupid.' She told him. 'You could have internal bleeding or God knows what else.'

Gary just chuckled. Then he winced and put his hand to his stomach. 'You might not be wrong.' He replied.

Elliott just watched him sadly.

'I'm glad you came,' he said after a pause. Then he glanced to her. 'I thought about you a lot, you know. After I got sent away.'

She could only hold his gaze for a couple of seconds. She glanced down at her feet and shifted uncomfortably. 'Yeah, well… it was a long time ago.'

'Still good to see you though.'

Elliott continued to look down and said nothing.

'So how serious is it?'

'What?' she glanced up and frowned.

'You and Jimmy. Serious?'

Elliott took in a breath and glanced up at the ceiling. 'Well,' she breathed. 'It's… complicated, I guess.'

'Try me, I'm a big boy.'

She couldn't help but half smile. 'Well… um…' The words didn't seem to want to come. 'I don't know. It could be, I guess.' She should have said yes, she realised. If she had said yes then she would have made things a whole lot easier for herself.

Gary half nodded, knowingly. 'Any reason why you haven't moved in with him?'

Elliott looked away awkwardly. 'I don't really think it's any of your business.' She replied.

Gary shrugged. 'Guess not.' He stood up, still dabbing at his forehead. 'Just… strikes me as strange is all. Jimmy implied that he'd been around since Reese was born but… you'd think that being with the same person for ten years that you would at least move in together.'

Elliott rolled her eyes. 'Gary-'

'You're right,' He raised one hand in defence. 'It's none of my business. I guess I'm just nosy.'

She looked down at her hands and fiddled with a ring on her thumb. He moved towards her but she didn't give any indication that she had noticed, even though she was very aware of how close he was getting. She didn't seem surprised at all when he put a finger beneath her chin and gently lifted it.

'It really is good to see you again, Elle,' he said, his one open eye looking directly into hers. 'I missed you.'

Elliott said nothing. She just looked up at him as he moved a little closer. Just when he was an inch or so away from her, she said; 'You're bleeding.'

Gary moved back and half frowned. 'What?'

'Your nose,' she said, lifting her hand to point. 'It's bleeding.'

He touched nose and looked to see red blood covering the tip of his finger. He frowned, and then muttered a curse. He turned to the bed to get the towel, but he hadn't even reached it when the door banged. He looked around, surprised, to see that Elliott had gone, along with her coat and her bag.

He stared at the door for a moment, and then smiled.


	11. Anyone Else But You

**A/N:** Well the pro-Jimmy's will like this chapter lol. Tinkies, you'll probably explode xD Sorry I didn't update last night, I actually had to do some work for uni so I wouldnt' get kicked out D:

* * *

**Chapter Eleven**

**Anyone Else But You**

_'I don't like hospitals.' Elliott reported, feeling uncomfortable and self-conscious on the padded table, the back lifted to prop her up slightly. She tried to pull her t-shirt down over her swollen stomach, but the doctor pushed it up again._

_ 'It's absolutely nothing to worry about, Elliott.' Dr Ryder smiled pleasantly, revealing perfect white teeth that had to be veneers. 'The only horrible thing about it is the cold gel. And that will probably just tickle.'_

_ Elliott still didn't look happy. She glanced to the ultrasound machine on one side of her, and then around to the empty seat beside her. Ms Phillips had said she would come with her for her first scan, but the Art teacher was nowhere to be seen. Elliott tried to tell herself that she didn't care, but her fragile emotions were hard to control these days. Later she would probably have a bit of a cry about it._

_ 'Is it okay if we get started then?' Dr Ryder smiled. Her black hair was pulled painfully tight on the back of her head and secured with a silver clip. She pulled on a pair of plastic gloves and picked up the tube of gel. 'It's always scary getting your first scan, but as soon as you see that image on the screen all your worries will melt away, I promise.'_

_ 'I guess so.'_

_ Dr Ryder squirted a blob of transparent and cold goo onto Elliott's stomach. She grimaced at the horrible sensation and watched as the doctor picked up what looked like a bar code reader and pushed it against the goo, sliding it around._

_ 'What's with the gunk?' Elliott asked. _

_ 'So we can get a clear reading.' Dr Ryder replied, watching the screen, which was currently turned away so Elliott couldn't see it. 'For conductivity.'_

_ Elliott contemplated this as she listened to the strange, throbbing sounds that came out of the speakers on the machine beside her. It sounded like being submerged under water, which she guessed was what it was like inside of her stomach. Made it seem even more unpleasant._

_ 'I think baby is hiding,' Dr Ryder mumbled, moving the barcode reader thing about Elliott's stomach._

_ 'Would be funny if it turned out I was carrying a bellyful of snakes around or something.' Elliott commented._

_ Dr Ryder shot her a bewildered glance. 'I'm sorry?'_

_ 'Never mind.' Elliott mumbled, glancing down._

_ 'Sometimes it's simply difficult to find the child,' Dr Ryder explained, still looking slightly confused by the comment. 'But baby is definitely there, we can see that.'_

_ Elliott opened her mouth to suggest that it might just have been something she ate when there was a knock at the door. She glanced around as it opened and a small red-haired nurse peered inside. _

_ 'Uh, Dr Ryder, I'm sorry to interrupt but there's someone here saying they need to see an Elliott Nixon?'_

_ 'I'm Elliott,' Elliott told her, immediately assuming the someone was Ms Phillips. She glanced to the doctor. 'Can they come in?'_

_ Dr Ryder hesitated, and then nodded. 'Sure.'_

_ The nurse disappeared and someone else took her place. Only it wasn't Ms Phillips. _

_ 'Jimmy!' Elliott scowled, feeling humiliated by being seen with her pregnant stomach sticking out and covered in slimy goo. 'What the hell are you doing here?'_

_ Jimmy glanced around and was obviously uncomfortable at the sight of the machine. 'Ms Phillips couldn't make it,' he told her. 'So she asked me to come instead. I didn't think you would want me to, but she…'_

_ 'Well you might as well stay now,' Elliott grumped. 'You've already seen me look like an idiot so you might as well wait for the show.' She paused and then nodded to the machine. 'Although I think the baby has found an escape route and fled. Can't find it.'_

_ Jimmy tentatively sat in the seat beside her and leaned around to see the screen. He frowned and tilted his head. 'Are you sure the screen is turned on?' he asked the doctor._

_ Dr Ryder smiled wanly whilst still watching the screen. 'I've been doing this for ten years,' she replied. 'I think I would know if the screen was on or… Oh here we are.' She smiled broadly. 'Oh that's beautiful. Would the two of you like to see?'_

_ Elliott nodded, eyes widening. Dr Ryder turned the trolley around so they could see the screen. Elliott had to look at it for a moment before she could make anything out._

_ 'Do you see?' Dr Ryder asked. She ran her finger along the outline of the baby's face. It was just visible amongst the black and white grainy swirls surrounding it. Elliott stared in awe, and Jimmy's expression matched hers._

_ 'Wow.' Elliott said finally. 'So there really is a little person in my stomach.'_

_ Jimmy squinted and turned his head. 'So… that's its head?'_

_ 'The both of you should be very happy,' Dr Ryder smiled. 'The baby looks very healthy. Strong heartbeat…'_

_ It Elliott a moment to realise what the doctor had said. 'Oh Jimmy's not the father,' she almost laughed. 'He's just…' She stopped and looked at him. 'He's just here.' She shrugged._

_ Dr Ryder glanced between them curiously and then nodded. 'Well good on you, Jimmy, for being such a good friend.'_

_ Jimmy just shrugged. Elliott went back to looking at the screen. The image moved as the baby shifted. At the same time she felt it move in her stomach. Excitedly she grabbed Jimmy's hand. _

_ 'Did you see that?' she laughed. 'I felt that! Ha, I saw him move and felt him move.'_

_ Jimmy couldn't help but smile himself. 'Yeah I saw.'_

_ 'So you already know the sex of the baby?' Dr Ryder asked, confused. 'But I thought this was your first scan?'_

_ 'Oh, I…' Elliott shrugged. 'Well I guess I just automatically decided it's a boy.' She paused. 'Is it?'_

_ Dr Ryder grinned again. 'Yes. A lovely, healthy little boy.'_

_ Elliott squeezed Jimmy's hand and grinned at him. 'I knew that you know.'_

_ He grinned back, nodding. 'A boy, huh? You should call him James.'_

_ Elliott laughed. 'Yeah, right.' She looked back to the screen, grin plastered across her face. 'I've already got a name picked out anyway.'

* * *

_

'Reese, bring any dirty dishes out please!' Elliott called, hands submerged in the soapy sink water. She knew she would have to shout of Reese another three times before he finally dragged himself out of bed and broad her the mouldy dishes that had been festering in his room.

It was Saturday morning, meaning that Reese wouldn't actually become fully alert until about lunchtime. It gave her another hour or so to finish off the housework that she had abandoned over the last few days. Jimmy had left early to go to the garage. Really it was just the same as any other Saturday. Elliott could almost forget about Gary. Almost.

She was surprised by the sound of the front door closing and glanced around to see Jimmy there. 'What are you doing here?' she asked, unable to turn away from the sink as her hands were drenched. 'Aren't you meant to be at the garage?'

Jimmy just smiled and moved towards her, hiding something behind his back. 'I took the day off.'

Elliott smiled suspiciously and dried her hands. 'James Hopkins, what are you up to?'

She turned back to him to be greeted by a bouquet of pretty multi-coloured flowers. They weren't his usual pink and purple tatty bouquet from Yum-Yums, these were _proper_ flowers. Elliott's face lit up.

'Jimmy!' she laughed. 'They're _beautiful_!'

'They want to be,' Jimmy replied. 'They should never die the amount I paid for them.'

Elliott took them, practically glowing. 'Aw, Jimmy, they're…' She was lost for words. She beamed happily at him and kissed him. 'What's the occasion?' she asked, still smiling as she went to get a vase. She smelled the flowers happily as she went. 'If you've got bad news then I'll give you points for trying to soften the blow.'

'No occasion.' Jimmy shrugged. 'I just thought you would like them.'

Elliott put the flowers in a dark blue vase on top of the television and preened them proudly. 'You've either done something or you want something.' She said, turning around and eyeing him with a smirk. 'I know how you work.'

Jimmy shrugged again, smiling a little. 'I just thought you deserved some cheering up,' he replied. 'After the few days you've had I thought you'd like it.'

Elliott moved to him and put her arms around his waist. 'Well they're very nice.' She told him. 'But you had to leave work to bring them here? Couldn't you have waited until tonight?' She smirked and cocked her head. 'Unless there was something else you had in mind to cheer me up?'

Jimmy smiled and put his forehead against hers. 'Something in particular?'

'Well…'

'Ew, gross.' Reese's voice interrupted. 'That's disgusting.'

The two of them glanced around, surprised at the sight of Reese holding a pile of dishes in his hands. He blinked blearily at the two adults and put the plates down on the table.

'So you finally rose from your pit?' Elliott smiled, still keeping one arm around Jimmy's waist.

'I'm meeting Tommy and we're going to take our bikes to the garage.' He replied, running his fingers through his messy hair. 'Will Peanut be busy today, Jimmy?'

Jimmy shook his head. 'Peanut's never busy. Mainly because he's useless.'

Elliott smirked at Jimmy. He winked at her and kissed her on the forehead.

'Seriously,' Reese said, heading back to his room. 'You're making me feel sick.'

Jimmy laughed and pulled Elliott towards him again. 'Where were we?'

Elliott rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement. 'You're supposed to be at work.' She told him. 'One of these days you're going to leave Johnny and Peanut to watch the garage and they'll blow the place up.'

Jimmy shook his head. 'It's cool. Anyway, I thought I might take you to the Vale for lunch.'

Elliott raised an eyebrow. 'Lunch at the Vale? Well look at you, Preppy-boy.'

'I don't mind slumming it for the day.' He smirked.

She laughed. 'Cheeky bastard. Okay then, just one condition; no seafood.'

'Deal.'

Elliott kissed him and went to move away, but Jimmy pulled her towards him again and leaned her back. She whooped in alarm, grabbing his shoulders and then laughed.

'Stop it!' she giggled. 'You big idiot!'

Jimmy landed a big kiss on her again and pulled her back up. He looked at her for a moment and said, 'Move in with me. You and Reese.'

Elliott's smile faltered slightly and she glanced away awkwardly. 'We'll talk about it later, Jimmy…'

'Please.' He said. 'I love you.'

She blinked at him. She knew Jimmy loved her. He loved Reese too. And she loved him. Perhaps not in the same way he loved her, but the feeling was there. What was she waiting for anyway? If she was with Jimmy all the time it would prevent near catastrophes like almost allowing Gary to kiss her…

Finally, she smiled. 'Okay.' She found herself saying. 'Yes.'

Jimmy's face lit up. 'Really?' he asked, as if expecting her to turn around and laugh at him for being so gullible. 'You mean it?'

Elliott nodded, surprising herself. 'Yeah. Why not? You're always here and the boiler is going to pack in again any day and…'

Jimmy cut her off by planting a firm kiss on her mouth. Elliott laughed against him and pushed him back.

'Calm down,' she laughed. 'You'll be sick of us after a couple of days.'

Jimmy shook his head. 'No I won't.' He turned her around and urged her towards her room. 'Go get changed. Cheer-up lunch has just changed into a celebration.'

Elliott laughed. 'You're such a dork.' She told him, but went to her room anyway. Once in her room she stopped. She had expected to feel dubious and perhaps regretful when she finally agreed to move in with him, but in reality she felt like a huge weight had lifted off her shoulders.

It was time she moved on. And now was a good a time as any.


	12. Self Sabotage

**A/N:** This chapter is only short because... well I'm quite badly hungover. Writing normally makes me feel better but this morning it's just making me nauseous. And I'm quite put out because I found a gray hair in my head last night. A freaking gray hair!? I'm 21!! And ginger! Ginger people don't go gray!! *cries hysterically*

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

**Self-Sabotage**

Gary's nose had worried him for a little white. He knew that he was lucky that it wasn't broken considering he had been whacked with a metal pipe, but he still couldn't help but he unsettled by the amount of blood that came from it. It bled steadily for nearly three hours. When it had finally stopped he had felt as weak as a kitten, and had abruptly passed out on the bed.

Sixteen hours later he woke up, bewildered to find a new day. He lay on the hard bed for a few minutes, squinting at the grimy window. He ached all over, more so than he had done yesterday. His jaw throbbed and his right ear was still ringing quietly. He should be grateful really; those two dumb Greasers could probably have killed him if they had wanted to. But obviously they just wanted to give him a warning. Next time they might not be so considerate.

With a grimace, Gary pushed himself up into a sitting position. A pain shot through his head and he closed his eyes against it. He groped blindly for the bottle of pills he had left on the bedside table and unscrewed the cap. When he peered inside three small white pills looked out at him.

Great. He had left for Bullworth in such a hurry he hadn't even looked to see how many pills he had left. These wouldn't even last him the morning, and he couldn't very well go without them… Angrily he tipped the remaining pills onto his hand and threw the bottle at the wall. He dry swallowed them, grimacing at the pain in his shoulder and throat as he did so, and then stared at the wall broodingly.

It was about time he stopped taking those stupid pills anyway. They made him brainless. Stupid. He was tired of depending on them too. He didn't like having to be dependant on anything. And plus, he would be meeting his son soon. Gary was supposed to be the dependable one and he couldn't very well do it whilst taking his body weight in pills every single day.

He was too smart for medication.

He stopped and frowned vaguely. It had been a while since he had thought that. Seemed like returning to Bullworth brought more to the surface than bruises and blood.

Gary stood up and limped to the window to try and distinguish what time it was. He peered out of the dusty blinds, eyes narrowing against the harsh sunlight. Midday apparently. Not like he could go far. It just meant he had longer to wait until night came and he could sleep again. Or until night came and Elliott got the chance to slip away from Jimmy and return to him.

Gary was confident she would leave Jimmy. He didn't think she would accept Gary, at least not for a short while, but as long as Jimmy was out the picture it was fine. Gary couldn't bear the thought of Jimmy sharing a bed with her, or taking Reese out at the weekends… It was enough to boil his blood. Just thinking about it made him clench his fists until it hurt.

He could win her over eventually. He had been certain of it as soon as she had turned up yesterday. The look in her eyes when he had told her he missed her.

Gary began to move away from the window, feeling a little better, when something caught his eye. He frowned and squinted. The street was quite a distance away, but he would always be able to spot Jimmy Hopkins from a distance. Although it took him a moment to recognise Elliott.

The two of them were walking up the street, away from New Coventry. Elliott had her arm slipped through his and was laughing about something. Jimmy looked equally happy. She looked beautiful in a white summer dress.

Gary scowled and pulled his hand from the blind, causing them to snap loudly back into place.

* * *

'I can't believe you talked me into leaving the car behind,' Jimmy grumbled as they crossed the bridge towards Bullworth Vale. 'I sometimes forget just how far away we live from this place.'

'Stop moaning,' Elliott told him, prodding him with her elbow. 'It's a lovely day. I'm not cruising around in your ripe smelling tin can when the sun is out.'

'Ripe smelling?' Jimmy chuckled.

'Well it's a man's car,' Elliott replied. 'All men's cars stink. Actually, all males stink. I should know seeing as I live with one already.'

'Well soon you'll live with _two_ ripe smelling males.' Jimmy reminded her. 'Which leads us nicely onto when you're going to move in? Tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow? It's a bit soon isn't it?'

'So? Sooner the better I think. Reese is off school, the garage is shut. Johnny and Peanut can help. It's not like they do anything else with their lives.'

Elliott smiled a little, excited and nervous at the idea of moving tomorrow. 'Are you sure?' she asked.

'What, about you moving in tomorrow?'

'No, about us moving in at all.'

'Of course I am!' Jimmy rolled his eyes and shook his head. 'I'm definitely sure, you don't have to worry about that. I've been asking you to move in with me for nearly three years.'

Elliott shrugged. 'Well, I know that… it's just with Gary turning up and…'

'I don't want to talk about that psycho,' Jimmy said quickly. 'He's got nothing to do with what goes on between us. If he's here to see Reese then he can see him and then go back to the pit he crawled out from. I'm not prepared to let that bastard get in the way of us.'

Elliott smiled wanly. 'Yeah. Me neither.'

Jimmy squeezed her shoulders. 'Good. Right then, where first? Peanut will probably keep Reese at the garage for most of the afternoon, so I say we hit the bar first…'

Elliott laughed. 'Early start?'

'Best kind of start.'

'Jimmy! Hey!'

Jimmy and Elliott glanced around at the invasive shout to see Johnny coming towards them from the other side of the street. Elliott's smile faltered slightly. Johnny only showed up when there was a problem at the garage. She was looking forward to her afternoon with Jimmy now and she didn't want it ruined. She glanced to Jimmy and could tell he was thinking the same thing.

'Hey, Elliott,' he smiled lopsidedly. 'How are you doing?'

'Fine,' she smiled pleasantly.

'What are you doing through here?' Jimmy frowned. 'Did you leave Peanut on his own?'

'I just came down to see if they'd delivered my new bike parts to the shop,' Johnny replied, nodding towards the town. 'But the useless bastards says they can't check the stock until later so I've got to come back. Look at you two though! All dressed up and heading for the Vale. Celebrating something?'

'Elliott and Reese are going to move in,' Jimmy told him. 'Finally.'

Elliott shot him an amused look and then turned back to Johnny. 'I haven't told Reese yet so don't let it slip.'

Johnny mocked zipping his mouth shut. Elliott's smile faltered as she noticed the deep and nasty looking grazes on his knuckles. It wasn't unusual for Johnny to be scarred from fighting, but usually he would have told you about it before you noticed the injuries. It was unusual for him to keep a fight a secret. Elliott found herself frowning suspiciously.

'Well I'm glad,' Johnny nodded, smiling. 'I'm glad that you two finally realised that you're meant for each other. Good that Gary didn't mess it up for you both, huh?'

There was a gleam in Johnny's eye when he mentioned Gary's name and instantly Elliott knew that only made her feel even more suspicious. Could Johnny have been behind Gary's beating? It was possible. She frowned deeply but kept her mouth shut.

'Get back to the garage, Johnny,' Jimmy said, flicking his head. 'That's if it's still standing.'

Johnny nodded with a smirk. 'Well you two enjoy yourselves. You need it.' He nodded to Elliott. 'See ya, Elle.'

She only looked at him sceptically and watched him as he turned and headed away. When Johnny was a distance away, she turned the look on Jimmy. He just smiled and urged her to start walking again.

'Wine?' he asked. 'Or should we just be New Coventry scum and drink beer?'

Elliott smiled wanly, but she couldn't suppress the thought that Jimmy had gotten Johnny and Peanut to beat Gary up.

No, he wouldn't do that. Not this Jimmy. If he wanted something doing then he would do it himself. Unless he didn't want her to know, which obviously he wouldn't.

'You've gone quiet.' Jimmy commented.

She managed a smile. 'It's nothing.' She told him. 'Come on, it's starting to get chilly. I think it's going to storm later.'

'Told you I should have brought the car.'


	13. Bad Things Always Work

**A/N:** Still a bit hungover, but three tins of Red Bull and half a packet of Pro-Plus have brought me back to life. Too much so actually. I just went a bit mental in the kitchen dancing to Bjork. I scared my cat :( Anywhoooo... onwards :D

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Bad Things Always Work In Somebody's Favour**

'Elliott?'

She glanced up, snapped out of her deep thoughts, and blinked. 'Huh?'

Jimmy half smiled, but he looked troubled. 'I asked what's wrong with your chicken. You've been prodding it for the past ten minutes.'

Elliott glanced down at her plate and realised she had only eaten a potato and a bit of salad. She leaned back in her seat. 'I just don't think I'm that hungry.' She replied quietly.

Jimmy regarded her as he chewed on his own lunch, and rested his own fork on his plate. 'You're making the right decision.' He told her. 'For you and Reese.'

Her eyes flicked to him briefly. 'I know that.'

'Then what's wrong?' Jimmy shrugged. 'You look like someone took a dump in your cornflakes.'

Elliott sighed and put the fork down, glancing around the sparsely populated restaurant. 'Don't be crude.'

He half smiled. 'Seriously, what's wrong? You were all grins and chatter on the way here.'

'Nothing.' She told him, picking up her glass of water.

Jimmy's smile faded and he sat back. 'Well now I _know_ that something is wrong.'

'Just leave it.' Elliott told him. 'It's not important.' She offered him a wan smile and nodded to his plate. 'How does yours taste?'

'I'm not going to sit here while you force out conversation,' Jimmy frowned slightly. 'Tell me what's wrong.'

'It's nothing!'

'Elliott.'

'Did you get Johnny and Peanut to beat up Gary?'

Jimmy blinked at her. 'What?'

Elliott put her glass down and picked up her fork. She shrugged awkwardly, the way she did when she was getting worked up over something. 'I just find it odd, that's all,' she said, shaking her head. 'Johnny with battered knuckles but he didn't say a thing about it. Usually it's the first thing that comes out of his mouth if he beat the crap out of someone. And the state of Gary-'

'Wait a minute,' Jimmy frowned. 'The state of Gary? There was nothing wrong with him when he came to the flat.'

Elliott paused, and then frowned. 'I went to see him yesterday. And he was a _mess_.'

'You went to see _Gary_?' Jimmy demanded, slamming his fork down and attracting curious glances from a pair of gossiping women sitting a little away.

'Yes,' Elliott replied, equally as angry. 'I was supposed to meet him yesterday morning but he didn't show. So I went to see why, and I found him practically beaten to a pulp! I need to know if you were behind it, Jimmy.'

Jimmy looked furious. 'You arranged to meet him without telling me? Why? Why the secrecy?'

'Mainly because I knew you'd throw yourself a hissy fit.' Elliott shot back, lowering her voice and glancing around. 'And keep it down, will you?'

'Elliott I…' He stopped and shook his head, unable to understand. 'If you were arranging a place to meet Reese then I wouldn't have gotten angry at all. Pissed off a little perhaps, but I wouldn't have gone on about it.' He leaned forward, frowning. 'The reason I'm angry now is because I know you didn't arrange to meet him to talk about Reese.'

'Don't try and turn this on me,' Elliott frowned in return. 'Did you have anything to do with it or not?'

'With what, beating the crap out of him? I wish I did!'

Elliott narrowed one eye. 'You did, didn't you? You got Johnny and Peanut to go and get rid of him.' She sat back, shaking her head. She picked up a napkin and tossed it on her still full plate. 'I can't believe you, Jimmy. I thought you were a better guy than that.'

'I didn't have anything to do with it!' Jimmy insisted. 'When I wasn't with you I was at work!'

'With Johnny and Peanut,' Elliott scowled. 'How could you? I didn't realise you were so immature.' She pushed herself out of her seat. 'I… oh forget it. I can't be bothered.'

'Elliott, sit down.' Jimmy said firmly. 'Listen to me, I had nothing to do with it. I swear. Although I sincerely wish I had. I wish I'd beat the crap out of him myself. You know for a fact I would have done it myself if I was going to!'

Elliott sat down again and leaned closer. 'You knew that if you did that to Gary then I definitely wouldn't move in with you,' she accused. 'So you got those two grease bags to do your dirty work for you. I'm not stupid.'

Jimmy laughed humourlessly and leaned back, shaking his head. 'You're paranoid.' He told her.

'Maybe,' Elliott replied. 'But I bet I'm right.'

'Well you're not,' Jimmy shot back. 'And I think we're dancing around an important point. The fact you went to see _him_.' He looked at her for a moment, trying to read her expression. 'You still care about him, don't you?'

Elliott's face darkened and she grabbed her bag from the floor beside her. 'I'm not talking about this.' She said, shouldering it and standing up.

'You're not denying it.' Jimmy frowned.

'Bye Jimmy.' She headed past him towards the door, but his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

'What happened to not letting him get in the way?' he asked.

She looked at him, ignoring the ache in her heart and kept a stiff upper lip. 'Let me go.' She said, quietly but firmly.

Jimmy looked at her for a moment, and then let go. He sat back in his seat and shrugged. 'Whatever.' He muttered.

Elliott turned and left, ignoring the stares of half the customers and staff in the restaurant. Jimmy sat for a moment, glaring at the table, before tossing his napkin angrily on the plate and muttering a curse.

* * *

Gary winced as he pulled his jacket over his arm. He was beginning to think something was broken in his shoulder as it felt like fire every time he lifted it. He still wouldn't go to the hospital though. It would fix itself eventually. He had had worse injuries.

He wasn't really sure where he was going but he couldn't stand to stay another minute in that poxy motel room. It was starting to feel like the walls were closing in on him, and that wasn't an unfamiliar feeling to him. Despite his slight limp he moved to the door and pulled it open.

Another of the many things he hadn't missed about Bullworth was its insane weather. Even though it had been quite pleasant when he looked out before he got his jacket on, it was now raining. _Heavily_. It was like some kind of tropical storm, just without the heat. Gary hesitated in the doorway. He didn't have another change of clothes with him and he had no money to buy anymore. If he went out then he would get soaked, end up aching from the pointless trek and probably just make himself even more miserable.

But he couldn't face another minute in that room.

Ducking his head and pulling up the collar of his jacket, he headed out into the rain.

* * *

'Oh man,' Reese sulked, standing under the shelter of Shiny Bikes in Bullworth Town and grimacing at the weather. 'My bike's gonna get all wet.'

'It's a bike,' Tommy Jackson frowned, sitting on his own silver bike and twirling his curly brown hair around one finger. 'It's not gonna rust or anything.'

'Yeah but it's just been hooked up!' Reese insisted. 'If I ride back home it's gonna get all muddy and gross.' He frowned as he looked down at his gleaming blue BMX. 'Oh man, I hate the stupid rain. It ruins everything.'

Tommy sighed, bored, and watched a pair of older girls from the Academy run past, textbooks above their heads. 'Reese you're such a dork,' he sighed. 'It's gonna get all muddy and gross sooner or later. You're not going to be one of these losers who keep their bikes in a lockup and never ride them, are you?'

Reese shot his friend a defensive frown. 'You're just jealous cos your bike is crud.'

'At least I'm not scared of a bit rain,' Tommy replied, slowly riding out into the street. He turned with a small bunny hop and grinned at Reese, rainwater already drenching his hair and clothes. 'Come on you big chicken.'

'I'm not a chicken.' Reese shot back. 'You're so gay, Tommy.'

Tommy just grinned, revealing the gap between his two front teeth. '_You're so gay, Tommy_,' he repeated in a high voice. 'Chicken. _Bakawk_!'

Reese climbed on his bike. 'You're such a turd.' He muttered, riding out into the rain. 'If my bike gets rusty I'm going to get Jimmy to kick your ass. He would kick your ass you know. He kicks loads of peoples asses for me.'

'Yeah right,' Tommy laughed, shaking his wet hair from his eyes. 'You should get your mom to kick my ass, then I wouldn't mind.'

Reese scowled as the two of them slowly rode along the path. 'You're gross.'

'So is your face.' Tommy grinned, and then sniggered.

'Loser.' Reese grumbled, looking ahead.

'Your mom and Jimmy are out, aren't they?' Tommy asked, again shaking his head to get his wet hair from his eyes. 'We could go to your place and play video games. It'll be cool to have the place to ourselves, man. We could do what we wanted…' He trailed off when he realised that Reese had stopped pedalling. Tommy stopped and pushed himself back so their bikes were side by side again. 'Yo, Reese. What's up?'

Reese was staring ahead, frowning. 'That's my dad.' He said.

Tommy blinked. 'Huh? Oh, that guy that Jimmy beat the crap out of?' He looked around curiously. 'Where?'

Reese nodded his head and Tommy looked. He cocked his head and watched the cut and bruised man making his way towards the bridge, hands buried deep in his pockets and head down. He was watching his feet, so he didn't see the two of them watching him.

'Dude, Jimmy really did a number on him.' Tommy cooed. 'Sweet.'

'Wonder where he's going.' Reese mused.

'Probably to the welfare office. The guy looks like a bum.' Tommy replied, sounding bored. 'Why couldn't your real dad be like, famous or something? With a mansion. And fifty Playstations.'

'Why would you need fifty?' Reese frowned.

Tommy shrugged. 'Cos it would be awesome.' He watched the man across the street or a moment longer and then looked away, losing interest. 'Well we've seen your loser dad. Are we going to your place or what?'

'I wonder where he's going…?' Reese said again.

'I'm not following him, man.' Tommy shook his head. 'Not in this crappy rain.'

Reese began to pedal towards the bridge, slowly. 'Whatever,' he muttered. 'I'll catch you later then.'

Tommy scowled. 'Reese, man!' he called after him. 'Come on! Oh you totally suck, dude.' He flicked his wet hair from his face again and pedalled after Reese.

* * *

Elliott was cold, wet and miserable, but she wasn't ready to go home just yet. Mainly because she would have to face Jimmy again, and she was still too angry. Did he really think that she wouldn't have figured it out? Did he take her for an idiot? There was no way that Johnny and Peanut would have done it of their own accord, mainly because they didn't have two brain cells to rub together. It had been Jimmy's idea she was positive, and the thought of it made her feel sick. Sometimes she forgot about Jimmy's violent streak. He was never _ever_ violent to her or Reese, but if someone got on the wrong side of him, well, they would want to make sure they kept out of his way for a _long_ time.

It was still raining, just not as heavily. Not that it really mattered anymore. Elliott's long blonde hair was stuck to the sides of her face, her makeup was smudged and her sundress clung to her. Thankfully the material wasn't too flimsy so it hadn't gone see-through or anything, but it was definitely uncomfortable. And it was a long walk back home.

She leaned against the railing and looked out at the site that had been the home of the carnival for nearly four years, but now was nothing but a deserted patch with a few remnants of the rides that used to be there. It was quite depressing looking at the bare ground between the hilly lands on all sides, but then again when she was in this mood then everything was pretty depressing.

_Just once,_ she thought grimly. _I'd like for it to just be simple. Is that too much to ask?_

She glanced up to the dark sky without lifting her head. 'Well is it?' she murmured. There was a roll of thunder somewhere in the distance. Elliott rolled her eyes and sighed. 'Typical.'

Footsteps on the wet gravel surprised her and she glanced around. Gary stood there, looking just as surprised as she did. His hair was slicked flat with the rain and water ran down his nose and dripped off his chin. The swelling on his face had gone down, but he was still covered in awful cuts and bruises. Seeing them again just made her even angrier at Jimmy.

'Small world.' Gary commented.

Elliott shrugged and turned back to the not-so beautiful view. 'Small town.' She replied.

He didn't move for a moment, probably deliberating whether to join her or just leave. He decided to join her and leaned on the railing, looking out at the abandoned site below them. He didn't comment on it. In fact, he didn't say anything.

'You remember when we sat up here?' Elliott said, breaking the long silence. 'After you stopped the Ferris Wheel?'

Gary smiled faintly and nodded, but remained silent.

'That was an awesome day.' She smiled. 'Probably the only really good day I had at that school.'

'I can think of a better day.' Gary replied, smiling lopsidedly.

Elliott looked at him disapprovingly but couldn't help but half smile. 'That was night.' She replied. She looked back over the railing and wiped the rain from her forehead. For a moment she didn't say anything else. 'Why did you come here?' she asked.

'Well I was getting restless in that motel room and I just started walking. Wasn't really paying attention…'

'I meant Bullworth.' Elliott interrupted, turning to look at him and resting her hip against the railing. She folded her arms over her chest. 'Was it really just to see Reese?'

He glanced at her briefly and shrugged. 'Not just Reese.'

Elliott glanced away. 'I hated you for so long.' She told him. 'Seriously. I've never hated anyone as much as I hated you.'

Gary chuckled quietly. 'Good to know. You sure you don't want to throw my over this railing?'

'Don't tempt me.' She frowned. 'But seriously, Gary. I thought I'd kill you when I saw you again but… but I don't think you would ever actually come back. And now you're here and…' She sighed and shook her head, turning back to the railing. 'I don't know what to think. My head goes all weird.' She shook her head again, this time a little more vigorously. 'You drive me absolutely crazy. And not in a good way.'

When she looked to him again he was looking at her sideways with an unreadable expression on his face. She felt uncomfortable, the way she always did when he looked at her like that, and suddenly became away of just how much her dress was clinging to her. She folded her arms tighter and looked away.

'You should really just leave,' she told him. 'It's better for everyone. Reese will understand. I'll keep in touch and tell you how he's doing. Maybe when he's older he can…' She trailed off when Gary removed his jacket. He winced as he pulled it off and then held it out to her, his dark shirt quickly getting wet. She blinked at it but didn't move. 'What are you doing?' she frowned.

'Put it on,' he told her. 'You're freezing. And you're not really leaving anything to the imagination in a soaking dress.'

Elliott blushed and took the jacket, pulling it on even though it was also drenched. She could smell him on it and she felt her stomach knot. 'Thanks.' She mumbled, going to zip it up.

'You got to be firm with the zip,' Gary told her. 'It sticks.'

She pulled the zip and it stuck a quarter of the way up. She tugged on it, but it wouldn't budge. She tried to unzip it but it still wouldn't budge. 'Well now I guess I'm stuck in it forever.'

Gary smiled and moved to her. 'Here.'

Elliott watched him nervously as he took the zip and pulled it. It slid the rest of the way up with ease and he smiled.

'Easy.' He told her.

A drop of rain ran the exact line of the scar across his eye. Elliott looked up at him, feeling a bewildering mixture of resentment and affection. She hated him for the way he had been at school. She hated him for being absent from Reese's whole life. She loved him because he was Gary, and he was here.

'This can't work.' She told him. 'It's too late.'

Gary glanced down. 'Yeah, I guessed that.' He looked at her again and pushed her wet hair from her face. She let him. She also let him kiss her.

It felt like she had just shot back ten years and she was back in that room in the clock tower, looking out over the campus. When he had brushed her leg and it had felt like fireworks were going off inside of her. That touch had been the reason for all of this, and she felt the exact same thing as his fingers slid through her wet hair.

For once, Elliott wasn't thinking of Jimmy or Reese. And as if in disapproval, the rain came down heavier.

* * *

'Dude…' Tommy uttered, perched on his bike and watching the two adults by the railing with wide eyes. 'Your mom is _so_ hot.'

Reese watched, eyes dark beneath his heavy wet hair. His jaw was clenched firmly behind his tightly pressed lips. He squeezed the handlebars of his bike tightly. After a moment of watching, he turned and whizzed back down winding track towards the town. Tommy hesitated, watching Reese's mom and his loser dad for a moment longer, and then shook his head.

'So hot.' He mumbled, and then followed Reese.


	14. Childhood Misadventures

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Childhood Misadventures**

Peanut was sitting in the office with his feet up on the desk and flicking through an out of date newspaper when Jimmy stormed into the garage. The blinds that covered the window between the office and the garage were rolled up, so Peanut spotted him right away. Thinking he was going to get into trouble for sitting around doing nothing, he quickly pulled his feet down and started to get up.

Jimmy didn't take any notice of him though. He marched straight towards Johnny, who was on his back beneath the old Honda, and seized the busy Greaser by his ankles. With one hard tug, Johnny came wheeling out from beneath the engine and blinked in bewilderment.

'Jimmy?' He frowned in confusion, still holding onto the wrench in his hand.

'Did you do it then?' Jimmy demanded, looming angrily over Johnny. 'Tell me the truth, Johnny!'

Peanut moved to the door and looked out, feeling that familiar pang of adrenaline he got when someone threatened Johnny. Of course if the pair of them started fighting then Peanut wouldn't be able to openly choose a side, but when it came down to it he knew he would side with Johnny.

'Hey man, Peanut frowned, moving towards them. 'What's the problem? We sorted out the Sedan like you told us.'

Jimmy ignored Peanut and grabbed Johnny by the front of his jacket, hauling up to his feet. Johnny stumbled but caught himself on the work counter on the back wall. 'Jimmy!' he cried, now looking annoyed. 'What the hell are you playin' at, man?'

Jimmy scowled. 'What the hell were you thinking beating Gary up like that, huh? Did you think it would help?'

Johnny straightened up and brushed down the front of his shirt. 'That kid has always needed a solid beating. You got a problem with that?'

'Yeah, actually,' Jimmy shot back. 'Because now Elliott thinks I got you two to beat him up. Way to go, Johnny, that was a real big help.'

Johnny scowled and took a step forward. 'Jimmy you need to get down from this frigging high horse of yours and stop thinking that everything revolves around you. Yeah we beat the crap out of Gary, we did him over real good, but it had nothing to do with you. You're not the only one who's got a bone to pick with Gary Smith.'

Jimmy lifted his hands. 'Alright, then what's your problem with him?'

Johnny smirked. 'The kid just pisses me off.'

Jimmy exhaled heavily and turned away, shaking his head. 'You've completely screwed this up, man. Elliott had agreed to move in with me! You think she's going to move in if she thinks I'm sending you two out to kick the crap out of people? You know what she's like. And you two… You stupid bastards…'

'Hey!' Johnny growled, frown deepening. 'Everyone knows that Gary wouldn't be able to come to Bullworth without getting a beating. The guy knew it himself. He didn't seem the slightest bit surprised when we turned up there the other night. The fact is that me and Peanut got to him before anyone else did, and that's all there is to it. You want to blame us for messing up you and Elliott? Well I think you're a moron. I bet everything was fine before that little twerp showed up. It's him you should be blaming.'

Jimmy frowned at Johnny, and then glanced to Peanut. Peanut just nodded, but then again he agreed with everything that Johnny said. Eventually Jimmy just sighed. 'Just close the garage.' He muttered. 'I'm going to see if there's anything I can salvage from this mess.'

Johnny shook his head in irritation and moved to the office. 'You're a joke, Jimmy. That son of a bitch is going to take Elliott and Reese away, and you're just going to stand back and let him. The Jimmy Hopkins I know wouldn't let anyone do that. You've gone soft.'

Jimmy scowled after him but said nothing. Johnny muttered something else and disappeared into the office, slamming the door behind him. Once inside he dropped the blinds.

'Jimmy, look man-' Peanut started with a shrug.

'Just shut the garage up.' Jimmy snapped. 'I'll see you on Monday.'

Peanut just shrugged again and Jimmy turned and stalked out of the garage, ducking his head as he stepped into the rain.

* * *

Bullworth did another of its spectacular weather changes. In the space of about ten minutes the rain had stopped, the clouds had passed, and then sun was beating down on the small town once again. The wet ground was beginning to dry and Elliott could already feel herself drying out. She knew her hair was going to look awful when it dried, but she didn't care anymore. She sat on the one of the benches, now looking out over the water instead of the deserted patch of ground where the Carnival used to be. Gary sat beside her, leaning forward on his knees. Neither of them had said much.

'I'll have to go soon.' Elliott said after a fifteen-minute silence. 'Reese will be wanting his dinner. Jimmy will be wondering where I am.'

Gary made a quiet snorting sound. 'Jimmy.' He muttered. 'How the hell did you end up with Jimmy?'

Elliott looked down at her hands. 'It just… happened I guess.' She paused, fiddling with her fingers. 'He's asked me and Reese to move in with him.'

Gary turned around and looked at her, eyebrows lowered. 'Are you?'

'Probably.'

Gary looked away, shaking his head in disgust. He pushed himself up and walked to the railing, leaning on it and keeping his back to her. Elliott just watched him, not moving.

'The pair of you are just going to have to get over yourselves,' she said, matter of factly. 'You're adults now, for God's sake. If you want to see Reese then you're going to have to understand that Jimmy will be in his life. I'm going to tell exactly the same thing to Jimmy.'

'But you don't even like Jimmy.' Gary sighed, keeping his back to her. 'You're just… Oh forget it. There's no point.'

Elliott frowned. 'No, go on. What am I _just_?'

Gary turned around, leaning his elbows on the rail. 'You're just with him because that's what you're used to. I bet you've hardly met anyone new since you had Reese. It's been you and Jimmy and Reese and that's the way you've gotten used to it being. Don't you see? Jimmy's just force of habit.'

Elliott's frown deepened. 'Is that right?'

'Well yeah.' Gary shrugged. 'Come on. Who else do you spend time with other than Jimmy?'

Feeling increasingly annoyed, Elliott scowled. 'That's none of your business.'

Gary laughed humourlessly and turned away. 'Exactly.'

'What do you propose I do then, Gary?' she demanded. 'Just leave Jimmy? After ten years of him doing _your_ job I should just tell him to sling his hook? Then what? Huh?'

'Then you could come with me.'

Elliott's mouth closed. She blinked.

Gary glanced over his shoulder at her, checking her reaction. 'That's a good idea, right?'

She managed to gather herself up again and shook her head. 'No. No it's certainly not a good idea.' She stood up and went to unzip his coat that she was still wearing. 'In fact, it's a fucking terrible idea.'

Gary watched her struggle with the zip. 'Why? This is what you've been waiting for, isn't it? For me to come back?'

Elliott looked at him incredulously. 'Are you _kidding_ me? You think that I've been sitting at the window for ten years and hoping that you would show your stupid face again?' She laughed humourlessly. 'Man you must really love yourself.'

Gary shrugged. 'A bit.' He admitted.

Elliott narrowed her eyes at him and went back to pulling on the zip, which was stuck again. 'I can't drop my life for you, Gary. I won't. It's bad enough that I've got no choice but to let you back in again…'

'Don't kid yourself, Elliott,' Gary sighed impatiently. 'I don't see why you're being so stubborn. You were like this at school, never letting yourself be content. You've always got to make things difficult for yourself. Why can't you just admit that you don't want to be with Jimmy? It's obvious!'

Elliott had flushed red in anger. She glared at him. 'I do want to be with Jimmy.' She said firmly.

'I didn't hear you saying anything about him when you had your tongue halfway down my throat.'

'_God_!' Elliott cried. 'What the hell is wrong with you? Is this just a big joke to you?'

Gary shrugged. 'Not particularly.'

Elliott grimaced at him and went back to trying to unzip the jacket. 'You're such a jerk.' She muttered, beginning to get flustered with the jacket.

'Here.' Gary smirked, moving forward.

'I can manage.' She snapped. She tugged on the zip and it slipped down quickly, catching her finger on the way. She yelped and lifted the wounded finger, frowning at the bead of blood that grew there. 'Damn it.' She mumbled.

'Let me see.' Gary asked, taking her hand.

Elliott snatched her hand away and moved back, pulling off the jacket. 'You can see Reese.' She said, thrusting the jacket into his hands and ignoring that she hurt him. 'But as far as you and I are concerned that's it. I don't want to talk to you unless I absolutely have to. I'm moving in with Jimmy, so the sooner you come to terms with that the better.' She began to head away. 'If you know what's good for you you'll get out of Bullworth. You're not welcome here anymore.'

She headed away, ignoring the lump in her throat. Gary watched after her, holding his jacket by his side.

'Don't kid yourself, Elle,' Gary called after her. 'You don't have to be miserable just to prove a point.'

She said nothing and continued leaving, teeth clenched.

'I'll see you at the motel sometime then,' he told her. 'Room five.'

Elliott frowned deeply and quickened her pace.

* * *

Reese peered around the front door and Tommy peered in below him. They both checked the room and then hurried inside.

'I'll grab my bag,' Reese said. 'You get some sodas from the fridge. I'll just leave a note, it'll be easier. Less questions.'

Tommy nodded and moved to the fridge. 'Won't that just make your mom more likely to call my mom?' he asked, opening the door.

Reese grabbed his backpack from behind the couch. 'If I make a big deal about it then she'll know that I'm up to something. If I just leave a note she would think that I would expect her to call your mom, so then she wouldn't bother because she wouldn't think I was hiding anything. You understand that?'

Tommy frowned. 'Not really.' He replied.

Reese rolled his eyes. He forgot that Tommy wasn't particularly bright sometimes. 'Wait there while I get my sleeping bag. And put some food in my bag too.'

Tommy nodded and went to he cupboard. Halfway there he noticed the washing basket and detoured. He peered in the basket, grinned, and picked out a black bra. He whirled around in alarm when he heard the front door open, and quickly hid the bra behind his back.

Jimmy glanced at Tommy in surprise. 'Oh. Hey, Tommy.'

Tommy smiled. 'Hey, Mr Hopkins.'

'It's just Jimmy,' Jimmy smirked, amused. He eyed Tommy for a moment, noting his close proximity to the washing basket, but allowed it to slide. 'Where's Reese?'

'In his room.' Tommy replied, still smiling.

Jimmy nodded, eyed Tommy for a moment longer, and then headed through the door that led to Reese's bedroom. Quickly Tommy stuffed the bra into his pocket and went back to the fridge.

'Hey there, Reese,' Jimmy said, leaning in the doorframe of Reese's bedroom. 'You going somewhere?'

Reese glanced around to Jimmy in surprise, and then smiled. In his arms he had his sleeping bag and a change of clothes. 'I'm staying at Tommy's. Mom won't mind. I was going to leave a note.'

Jimmy nodded. 'Your mom isn't home?'

Reese blinked. 'No. Don't know where she is.'

'Right. Well I guess I'll just wait for her.'

'You two fell out again?' Reese asked, keeping an eye on Jimmy.

'No. Well… I just need to talk to her that's all.' Jimmy paused and frowned. 'Oh, and uh… don't leave that kid alone with your moms washing for too long, okay?'

Reese grimaced. 'Jimmy man, that's gross.'

'That kid just has that look about him,' Jimmy replied. 'I'm going to lie down in your mom's room, okay?'

'Will you tell my mom I've gone to Tommy's?' Reese asked.

'No problem, kid. Be careful okay? You see any of those Blue Skies kids then just give them hell, okay?'

Reese laughed. 'Okay, Jimmy.'

Jimmy nodded and winked, and headed away into Elliott's room. Reese waited until he was gone, and then quickly hurried back to where Tommy was waiting.

'You don't have much food,' Tommy commented, helping himself to a packet of crackers. 'I'll just get some from my place. We have better food.'

'Whatever,' Reese nodded. 'Well let's get going before my mom gets back. She'll probably make us stay for dinner or something.'

'I don't mind.' Tommy shrugged.

Reese frowned at him and swung his backpack on his back. 'Shut up, Tommy. Come on.'

Tommy grimaced and put the box of crackers down, following Jimmy out onto the landing. They both hurried down the narrow, steep stairs towards the street. 'Where the hell are we going, anyway?' Tommy asked. 'Everywhere is gonna be all damp and gross. We can't sleep outside.'

'We're not sleeping.' Reese replied.

'Huh? Well why do you have your sleeping bag? I'm not staying up all night, dude. You know I need my sleep.'

'You're not coming.' Reese told him.

Tommy frowned. 'Reese man, that's not cool.'

Reese rolled his eyes. 'I'm going to see my dad, you moron. You'll have to make sure you answer the phone at your place all night, okay? In case my mom calls. She probably won't, but if she does you tell her I'm on the crapper or something. She shouldn't call back.'

'What if she does?'

'Then tell her I'm still on the crapper. I don't know, Tommy. Use your imagination.'

They emerged onto the street and Reese climbed on his bike. Tommy climbed on his and watched Reese with a frown.

'Dude, how do you know where your dad is anyway?'

'He'll be staying in that crappy motel,' Reese replied. 'It's three dollars a night or something. The bathroom windows on most of the rooms are pretty loose, so it'll be easy to get inside if he's not there. You just make sure my mom doesn't find out I'm not at yours, okay?'

'Okay, Reese.' Tommy nodded. 'But I don't get why you want to see him. He looked like a total loser. And anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if he's still busy with your mom-'

Reese punched him in the arm, hard. 'Shut the hell up, Tommy. Geez you're such a creep.'

Tommy frowned and rubbed his arm. 'Hey, you should be happy that your mom isn't some fat trout like Blaine Gray's mom.'

Reese scowled. 'Just go home and watch the phone, man. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Whatever.' Tommy replied, and began to pedal away. 'Adios, asshole.'

Reese watched the other boy pedal away, before heading away on his own bike to the track that led behind the motel.


	15. What A Tangled Web

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews everyone! My internet is going pants AGAIN, so I can't get onto my emails to check my reviews/PMs etc because Yahoo mail just crashes out as soon as I sign in. Piece of poop it is. Anywho I can still update, so I will :D And the last line of this chapter is SO cheesy, but I don't care. I love Teh Cheezee xD

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

**What A Tangled Web**

Elliott tentatively opened the front door and peered inside, uncannily similar to the way Reese had snuck in only a half hour before. She mentally scolded herself for being acting so guilty. No one knew where she had been. Jimmy would just think that she had walked around for a while to cool off. Reese probably hadn't even realised she was gone. No one knew she had been with Gary, so she didn't have to sneak around like a teenager who had stayed out way past curfew.

_God,_ she thought grimly as she closed the door. _I'm a terrible person._

The flat appeared to be empty. She peered down the corridor to check if Reese's door was closed. If it was it meant he was in, but it was open, which meant he was still out. It would be dark soon. She hoped he wasn't mucking around at the old Tenements site.

Elliott kicked off her shoes and peeled off her damp dress, tossing it in the washing basket. She grabbed her sweatpants and one of Jimmy's old t-shirts from the radiator and pulled them on. When she popped her head out of the hole of the t-shirt she saw Jimmy standing by the dining table, arms folded over his chest. She stood and looked at him for a moment and then turned to the washing machine.

'Where's Reese?' she asked, stuffing the dirty clothes into the machine. She put the dress in first, as if it was some incriminating piece of evidence.

'He says he's staying at Tommy's.' Jimmy replied.

Elliott frowned slightly. 'He is? He didn't mention it.' She rose to her feet and moved to the phone. 'I should call Tommy's mom. Just check that it's okay…'

'Elliott…' Jimmy started. The exasperated tone in his voice stopped her in her tracks and she looked around to him. He ran a hand over his face and then dropped his arms. 'What the hell are we doing?'

She blinked at him. 'Standing in the kitchen.' She replied. 'Well I am. Technically you're in the living room.'

Jimmy rolled his eyes. 'Take me seriously. For five minutes. Do you think you can do that?'

Elliott shook her head. 'Actually, no. Because I'm tired of having stupid serious conversations. They're driving me crazy. In the past three days I think I've aged about ten years. I don't dare look too hard at my head in case I see a nest of grey hairs. If Reese is staying out tonight then I'm going to take my last twenty dollars, call anyone who hasn't got kids and is old enough to drink, and I'm going out.'

Jimmy frowned. 'Tonight? Do you think that's a good idea?'

'Why not?' Elliott frowned. 'It's Saturday night. It's what _normal_ people do on a Saturday night. Normal twenty five year olds. Is it okay with you if I just act as a normal twenty five year old for _one_ night? Or do we have to sit in this crappy flat and moan and bicker like an old frigging couple. I can't sit and argue with you anymore, Jimmy. It's tiring me out.' She turned around and turned on the washing machine.

Jimmy was quiet for a moment. 'So you don't want to try and sort this out then, huh?'

'Sort what out?' Elliott asked grumpily as she moved past him to the bedroom.

'Well, us.' Jimmy replied, following her.

'There's nothing to sort out.' She went into her room and opened the closet doors.

Jimmy stood in the doorway and watched her. 'What's wrong with you?' he demanded. 'Recently it's like you're two different people! Why won't you just let us move on, huh? Why do you always have to find something to ruin everything?' His voice was beginning to rise as he got angrier. 'You're like this all the time. As soon as we're about to move on to the next level then you latch on to some tiny, stupid little thing and use it as an excuse to drag us both back down to square one. Are you just scared of moving on, huh? Scared of change? Or is it the simple fact that you just don't want to be with me?'

Elliott just shook her head as she rummaged inside the closet for something to wear. 'What did I say? I said I'm not arguing with you.'

'I just want…' He sighed and stopped, watching her as she pulled a dress from the closet. She looked at it and threw it back inside. 'You know what? Forget it. You obviously don't care so I don't see why I should.'

Elliott pulled out a pair of jeans and shrugged. 'Great.' She replied, flatly.

'Yeah.' Jimmy muttered, turning away. 'Real great.'

Elliott managed to hold onto that anger for about ten seconds longer before it all melted away. Jimmy had left the bedroom and was opening the front door. She quickly ran into the corridor. 'Jimmy, wait!' she called, but the front door slammed shut. She stood with her jeans in her hand and looked down at them glumly.

* * *

Reese cupped his hands against the grimy window and peered in, but it didn't help him see any better. Mainly because there was a thick film of dirt over the glass. He rubbed his fist against the glass and tried again, only to discover the dirt was on the inside of the window. He grimaced and moved onto the next window, pulling his bike along with him. He should have just gone straight to the reception and asked the guy who ran the place which room his dad was in but it would have been a little hard considering he didn't know his dad's name.

He peered through the next window. Someone had definitely been staying in this room. There were towels piled on the floor by the bath. Reese squinted, sure that some of them were bloody. Well, the guy had been pretty beat up. It was either his dad's room, or some serial murderer. Reese decided the odds were in his favour and pulled a flat-ended pipe from his bag. He had stolen it from the garage months ago when he and Johnny had broken into the old Spazz Industries warehouses and had always kept it in his bag, just in case of emergencies. He jammed it under the window and pushed down on it. The window slid up with a teeth-grinding squeak. Reese pushed the pipe back into his bag and pushed it through the window. He glanced around, checking that no one was watching, and climbed in.

It was blood on the towels. Reese nudged them with his foot and wondered what his dad had done for Jimmy to hate him so much. He headed into the main motel room and dropped his backpack on the floor. There wasn't much around. The bed was made. There was about two dollars in change on the bedside table, next to an empty pill bottle. Reese picked it up and read the label, but he had no idea what the pills were. He put it back down and glanced around.

Pills, loose change, bloody towels… Tommy was right; this guy was a loser.

Reese felt his heart skip a beat when the lock clicked. His first instinct was to hide, but he quickly reminded himself that he wanted to be found. After all that was why he was there. He turned to the door and squared his shoulders, not wanting to look like some frightened little kid.

The door opened and his father stepped inside. He wasn't looking up as he entered, so he didn't notice Reese standing there until he moved to the bed and flicked on the lamp beside it. He just stopped, as if he simply sensed Reese's presence, and then glanced up at him. Reese raised his chin, trying to hide his nerves. His dad eyed him, and then straightened up. There was a look on his face that Reese couldn't place.

'So you're my dad, huh?' Reese asked, surprised at the strength of his voice.

The man blinked, and then nodded. 'Yeah.'

Reese looked him up and down. He had quite broad shoulders and looked pretty tough, despite the fact he was still bruised and cut all over. He had a long scar over one eye and a stupid undercut type hairstyle. Reese narrowed an eye scrutinising. 'What's your name?'

'Gary.'

'Gary what?'

'Smith.'

Reese nodded. 'Well at least you don't have some dumbass surname.' He muttered, and perched on the edge of the dresser. 'I didn't want to find out I was really a… I dunno… Reese Tulip or something.'

Gary looked amused. 'You wouldn't have my surname anyway,' he replied. 'Unless I married your mom.'

Reese snorted. 'Right.'

Gary moved to the bed and sat on the edge of it, watching Reese warily. 'So where does your mom think you are now?' he asked.

Reese fiddled with the sleeve of his jumper. 'At my pal Tommy's house.'

Gary nodded. 'What if she calls Tommy's house?'

'Tommy's dumb, but he can answer a phone. He'll tell her I'm busy or something.'

'You normally lie like that to your mom?'

Reese frowned darkly at him. 'Hey pal, don't you try to make me feel bad about anything. You're the one who hasn't been here for the last ten years.'

Gary still looked amused, but also a little hurt. 'Yeah.' He nodded, scratching his head. 'Yeah you're right.'

'I know I'm right.' Reese replied, still frowning. 'Anyway, I wanted to see you without my mom hanging over my shoulder and hoping that I like you or whatever. I want to tell you what I think of you the first time we meet, and I didn't want to upset my mom by saying something she won't like. I don't give a damn if you don't like it.'

'What makes you think she'll be upset if you don't like me?' Gary asked, amusement being replaced with curiosity.

Reese narrowed his eyes. 'I saw you both up next to the lighthouse, man. I'm not stupid. And I get it, I'm not some dumb kid.'

Gary laughed quietly and looked down. 'Right. Well… you must be good at tailing people. Didn't even realise you were following me.'

Reese shrugged and leaned back. 'You probably wouldn't even have recognised me.'

Gary's smile faded. 'Probably not.'

Reese regarded him for a moment and pulled his legs up so he was sitting with them crossed on the dresser. 'So where were you?'

Gary blinked. 'When?'

'Like, forever man. Where were you my whole life? Mom said you had ADD and went crazy. That's where I got it from apparently. Thanks for that, by the way.' He added sarcastically.

Gary sat back. 'It's a long story,' he replied. 'Which I'll probably have to tell you sometime. But not tonight.'

Reese frowned. 'Why not?'

'Because I don't really want to.' Gary shrugged. 'Not in the mood.'

'So that's it, huh? You show up after all this time and you don't want to tell me where you've been because _you're not in the mood_.' Reese laughed humourlessly. 'Man, you really are a loser.'

Gary just blinked lazily, apparently uncaring about Reese's opinion. 'I only found out about you four days ago.' He said. 'I don't know what Ell… what your mom told you but she didn't exactly make a dash to break the news to me when she found out.'

Reese considered this. It had never occurred to him that his dad didn't even know about him. He had assumed that he had always known. 'You didn't know?' he asked. 'At all?'

Gary glanced down as if contemplating something, and then shook his head. 'Nope.'

'Oh.' Reese pushed his hair back and scratched his nose. 'Well… okay I guess. That's fair enough.' He paused. 'So… why did Jimmy beat your ass so bad?'

Gary laughed. 'You mean this?' he asked, pointing at the cuts and bruises all over him. 'This wasn't Jimmy.'

Reese's eyes lit up. 'It wasn't? Who else hates you?'

'This was the result of two sexually repressed Greasers and a metal pipe.' Gary told him, still chuckling. 'Probably releasing a bit of pent up tension.' He paused, remembering that he was actually talking to a ten year old. 'A lot of people hate me around here.'

'I noticed.' Reese nodded. 'You must be a total jerk.'

Gary shrugged. 'A bit.' He admitted.

Reese looked at him for a long moment. 'You're not as much of a jerk as I thought you would be. You're pretty honest, I guess. You're not trying to impress me or patronise me or any of that shit.' He paused in thought again. 'You might not be like… cool or anything but… you're okay.'

Gary half smiled. 'I guess you're okay too.'

Reese tentatively returned the smile and looked down at his hands again. 'You do know my mom is with Jimmy, don't you?'

Gary's smile faded. 'Yeah. Did you tell him that you saw…?'

'No way,' Reese laughed. 'You have any idea what he'd do to you if he found out? I didn't want you dead before I'd even met you man. That would suck. And it's not like you have any money to leave me or anything.'

'Good. Because you know that wouldn't help anything, don't you? You're a smart kid.'

Reese nodded. 'I don't need you to tell me I'm smart, man.'

Gary nodded and pulled his legs up on the bed, folding them beneath them so he was mirroring Reese's position. They both sat in silence, eyeing each other warily. Reese finally managed to place that look on his father's face; it was pride.


	16. Biased Advice

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Biased Advice**

Already Elliott's vision was beginning to blur a little. She swallowed against the burning sensation in her throat and frowned, trying to focus on the TV, but found it near impossible. She couldn't remember it starting, but now she was apparently watching a chat show with a host who spoke ridiculously fast. Much to fast for Elliott to keep up. She leaned forward and picked the glass bottle half full of vodka from the table in front of her. She took a swig, despite the fact she already had some poured out in a glass, and clumsily replaced it. She grimaced, feeling her stomach briefly lurch. She had never been one for drinking spirits straight, but she had already used the last of the lemonade as a mixer and she was too drunk to go to the store and get some more.

Okay, so this probably wasn't the best way to forget about her current problems, but it was by far the easiest. Reese was out at Tommy's so she didn't have to worry about him coming in and seeing her practically wasted on the couch. Jimmy was probably off brooding and lamenting at his own place for a change and, well, Gary wasn't stupid enough to come to her apartment. So she pretty much had the whole night to sit on the couch, drink and then pass out uninterrupted.

Getting irritated by the rapid talker on the TV, Elliott grabbed the remote and turned it off, while muttering, 'Shut up.' She pushed herself off the sofa and stumbled, not immediately readjusting to her new height. She blinked groggily, picked up the bottle and moved into the kitchen.

In the morning she was going to feel terrible, but currently she didn't give a damn. Her warped, drunken mind suddenly couldn't see what all the trouble was about. Why was she so bothered about Jimmy and Gary? They were just guys after all. Is that really the be all and end all of everything in her life?

'Of course not!' she answered herself. 'Stupid men. Don't even need stupid men…'

She put the bottle on the workbench and fumbled in the cupboard for nothing in particular. As she raked around amongst the tins and foodstuffs, she had a kind of miniature epiphany that only seems sensible in the early hours of the morning; Why doesn't she just leave Bullworth?

She stopped, frowning. It made sense. She hated the place. She had done since the very first day she had set foot in the town. Reese might be upset but he was still young, he would make other friends. They could go to the city, get an apartment. Maybe she could take night classes or something. And as for Jimmy and Gary?

'Screw them.' Elliott muttered, closing the cupboard door.

The more she thought about it the better an idea it seemed. She stood in the kitchen, frowning deeply. Of course there was the aspect of money. That would be a bit of a problem. She had about seventy dollars in the bank at the minute and that wouldn't really get them far…

'Dad.' She mumbled. 'Dad can help.'

She moved to the phone, not caring that it was past midnight. She hadn't spoken to her dad in nearly eight years. He hadn't wanted anything to do with Elliott when he had found out she was pregnant, but when he heard that she had a little boy he had turned up on the doorstep wanting to get to know his grandson. She had told him to sling his hook and hadn't spoken to him since. But if he was still there and willing to help she could take Reese to stay with him for a while, and then maybe…

A knock on the front door stopped her as she was just about to pick up the phone. In the morning she would be grateful for the interruption to prevent her momentary act of insanity by calling her father who she hated, but right now she was just annoyed. She hesitated, staring darkly at the door. The person knocked again and she moved to the door, swaying as she went.

'What?' she barked, leaning against the closed door. 'I'm not here.'

'Elliott, can I come in?' It was Johnny.

Elliott grimaced. 'No, you can't.' she replied, words slurring. 'Because I'm having a girly night in, by myself, with no stupid guys to ruin it, okay? So just… buzz off, _Jonathon_. Go and play cars with Peanut or whatever it is you two do…'

'Have you been drinking?'

'Well you can't have a girly night without alcohol!'

'Come on, let me in. I just want to have a quick word with you then I'll be outta here, okay?'

Elliott paused sulkily, and then sighed heavily. 'Fine.' She muttered, and unlocked the door. She pulled it open and blinked groggily at him. 'But you're not getting any vodka.'

Johnny half smirked and walked in. 'You should watch yourself. You'll end up like Galloway.'

Elliott closed the door and waved a dismissive hand. 'Yeah go on, get all the alcoholic jokes out of the way.' She weaved her way to the couch and sat down heavily. 'What do you want, Johnny?'

Johnny glanced around and then sat down in the armchair opposite the couch. He studied her, checking that what he was going to say would actually be understood by her. 'You want me to make you a coffee or something?'

'Why?' she snapped. 'I haven't finished the bottle yet.'

He smiled wanly, amused, and then sat back. 'Jimmy didn't have anything to do with beating up Gary,' he sighed. He looked at his fingers in boredom as if he really didn't want to be there. 'It was all me and Peanut.'

Elliott scowled. 'He just told you to apologise.' She accused, childishly.

Johnny sighed in exasperation. 'Quit being such a bitch. Do you really think Jimmy would do something to jeopardize his relationship with you and Reese? He's crazy about the two of you. And to be honest, I'm starting to get pretty sick of the way you're messing him around all the time. He's not the same Jimmy anymore. He's always stressed out these days and, well to be honest it's frigging irritating.'

Elliott crossed her arms and pouted sulkily. 'That's called _growing up_.' She told him. 'People tend to do that. They get old and miserable.'

Johnny frowned. 'No, _you_ get old and miserable. You bring everyone else down around you cos you're bitter about it. Don't think I don't get you Elliott. You're nothing but a Drama Queen.'

Elliott mocked a shock gasp and then narrowed her eyes at him. 'You're the only Queen around here, Johnny. You have been ever since Lola sleazed off with that rich old guy in the city.'

Johnny scowled. 'You can say what you want about me, but at the end of the day I'm Jimmy's friend. I'm gonna look out for him, and if I see something that I think is bad for him, I'm gonna get rid of it.'

Elliott scowled at him for a long moment. 'If I wasn't so drunk I would throw you out.' She told him. 'But I don't want to risk breaking my neck by falling over the coffee table, especially over a loser like you. So why don't you mop up the little oil slick you left behind in my apartment, gather up the remainders of your girly hissy fit and go back home, kiss that picture of Jimmy you keep under your pillow and cuddle down with your boyfriend, huh?'

Johnny scowled and stood up. He circled the coffee table and leaned his hand on the couch behind her head, moving in close. 'Like I said,' he almost growled. 'If I see something bad, then I'll get rid of it. You got that? He doesn't need to know I had anything to do with it.'

Elliott blinked up at him, suddenly feeling quite small. He glared down at her for a moment longer, and then stepped back. He was halfway to the door when the phone started ringing. He hesitated and glanced to the cordless phone on the wall. Elliott started to get up, but Johnny picked it up and tossed it to her. She fumbled with the phone for a moment, still slightly shaken by Johnny's quiet aggression, and hit the answer button on the third attempt.

'H… hello?' she choked.

'Elliott?' a stern female voice enquired from the other end. 'Reese's mother, yes?'

Elliott blinked, disorientated by the unexpected voice. She had thought it would be Jimmy. 'Um… yes?'

'This is Debra, Tommy's mom. I'm sorry it's so late, but after I answered the phone to my brother-in-law Tommy quite elaborately snatched the phone and told my bewildered brother-in-law that Reese was on the toilet. It came to my attention that these two little monsters have been lying to you. I thought I would call to let you know that Reese isn't staying here tonight. I've questioned Tommy about it but he won't tell me where he is. I'm sure I'll get it out of him eventually, so I'll call you as soon as I know.'

Elliott blinked. Her jumbled thoughts were rapidly trying to process the information she had just been given. 'Oh.' She finally managed. 'I see.'

'Good. And I'm very sorry about that, Elliott,' Debra said, sounding more annoyed than apologetic. 'I'll make sure Tommy is punished for this.'

Elliott nodded and listened as the other party hung up. She looked at the phone for a moment, and then up to Johnny who had been watching curiously from the door. Noticing the look on her face change, his anger seemed to disappear.

'What is it?'

'Reese isn't at Tommy's.' Elliott said, voice slightly dreamy. 'He's never done that before… Why would he tell me he's at Tommy's when he's going somewhere else…?' She frowned, unable to comprehend. Then the truth sunk in. 'He's out there somewhere in the middle of the night! He's probably been kicked to shit by those Blue Skies kids!' She bolted up and stumbled around the coffee table. 'I'll have to go look for him…'

'Whoa,' Johnny said, diving after her. He caught her before she tripped over Reese's schoolbag. 'Hey, now wait a minute. Calm down. Reese isn't stupid, he can look after himself.'

'He's _ten_!' Elliott cried hysterically, the alcohol fuelling her panic. 'He… he's probably been snatched by some crazy hobo! Or… or he'll have been messing around on the Tenements site and got stuck underneath some giant rock and the rats will get him… Or he could have fell into the water or…or…'

Johnny grabbed her arms. 'Elliott, stop it. I'll go and look for him, okay?'

'No!' she frowned. 'I've got to! You couldn't look for a… an elephant in a refrigerator.'

'Well whether you like it or not you're too drunk.' Johnny told her. 'So sit down, get a cup of coffee, and I'll look for him. He might come back anyway. Seriously, Elliott, he's a bright kid. He won't be in any trouble. He's probably just camping out behind the school or something. We all did it when we were kids.'

Elliott started to argue with him, but the tiny amount of rationality that had escaped the vodka stepped forward and she sighed. 'Okay…' She rubbed her face. 'Okay. Just… get him back here Johnny. He better be okay, because I want to give him one hell of a talking to.'

Johnny patted her arm and nodded. 'Yeah. Just take it easy.'

Elliott watched him, bleary eyed, as he left the apartment. She moved to the couch, sat down, and closed her eyes firmly.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry there was no update last night, I kind of got carried away planning my next story lol. I miss writing childish humour so the next story is going to be back in Bullworth, but because it's when Reese goes I need new students and all that. I have a group of Bullies, a group of Jocks, Nerds and Preppies, but I need some Greasers. For some reason I can't imagine the Greasers without Johnny Vincent, so if some people have some ideas for new Greasers I'd be happy to see them lol! (would people still be interested in reading it? Because it would have a lot of OCs, but the faculty would be the same and everything) This story isn't really finished yet, but I always end up starting the next one half way through the one before it. At least it means I know how it ends lol! :D So yeah, thanks for reading and reviewing and I hope everyone had a good weekend! :D


	17. Daddy's Boy

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Daddy's Boy**

Jimmy pulled the pillow over his head and groaned loudly, trying to drown out the high-pitched ringing of the phone beside him. Finally, realising that it wasn't going to stop, he sat up and blinked blearily at the clock. Who the hell would be calling him at two am? He fumbled for the phone and put it to his ear.

'Yeah?' he grunted.

'Jimmy,' Johnny's voice was breathy and the faint sounds of sirens gave away his location of somewhere in New Coventry. 'You got to come meet me.'

Jimmy looked to the clock again, irritated that he had only been asleep an hour. 'Do you have any idea what time it is? Call me in the morning, Johnny.'

'It's important,' Johnny replied. 'Look man, I went to Elliott's earlier to talk-'

'You went to Elliott's?' Jimmy frowned. 'What the hell for?'

'Shut up and listen, man,' Johnny snapped. 'While I was there Tommy's mom called and said Reese isn't there.'

Jimmy was suddenly wide-awake. 'He isn't? But he said-'

'Yeah, well he lied, Jimmy. 'Anyway, I just figured he would be slumming it behind the school cos I used to do it a lot when I was his age. I was looking for him for about an hour and then I remembered about Gary, y'know…?'

Jimmy was already pulling on his jeans. 'You think he went to see Gary?'

'You know how manipulating that bastard is.' Johnny replied. 'What if he's managed to talk Reese into going with him?'

Jimmy fell silent as he felt dread creeping into him. Would Gary go that far? Would he take Reese? 'Where are you?'

'I'm near the motel.' Johnny replied. 'I didn't want to go there without telling you first, man. I mean, I don't even know if anyone's there. The way I see it Gary has spoke to Reese at some point. Arranged for him to lie to his mom and go meet him tonight. I he's really planning what I think he is then they could already be out of Bullworth.'

'Thanks for calling, Johnny.' Jimmy said, pulling on his shoes. 'Have you said any of this to Elliott?'

'No, she's at home. She's been hitting the bottle so I wouldn't be surprised if she's passed out or something.'

Jimmy frowned. It wasn't like Elliott to drink. She must really be down. 'Well don't say anything,' he said. 'Not until we know what's going on. Stay where you are, I'll be there in a minute.'

'Should I call Peanut to come down?'

Jimmy hesitated. 'No. Keep it to yourself. I'll be there in a minute.'

He hung up and grabbed his jacket. He hoped Johnny was just jumping to conclusions, but it certainly wasn't like Reese to lie to Elliott. If Gary was really behind this then he would kill him. He wouldn't hold back this time.

* * *

Elliott paced the floor and chewed anxiously on her sleeve. She wasn't drunk anymore; the situation had sobered her up but left her with a massive headache. She couldn't relax. Johnny had been gone an hour and she had heard nothing from him. Tommy's mom wasn't answering the phone, probably because it was two in the morning, and Elliott didn't dare call Jimmy. He would go on the warpath. The only other person was…

Elliott froze, mid-pace. 'Gary.' She muttered. 'He went to see Gary.'

Suddenly everything made sense. Reese had been off ever since he saw Jimmy and Gary in the flat. He must have gotten impatient of waiting for Elliott to organise things and took matters into his own hands. Why hadn't she thought of that sooner?

Elliott grabbed her coat. Johnny would probably come to the same conclusion soon and he would probably be a lot less understanding of Reese's motives. She was still a little dizzy but she couldn't wait. She ran out of the flat, hoping that Johnny hadn't called Jimmy.

* * *

Johnny was standing under a broken streetlight opposite the motel, cigarette clamped between his lips. He glanced up as Jimmy turned the corner and pitched the cigarette into the road. Jimmy was breathless and still a little puffy eyed from sleep. He stopped beside Johnny and looked towards the motel.

'He's staying there?' he asked.

'Yeah.' Johnny nodded. 'Room five. The light's on, so it looks like somebody's home.'

Jimmy nodded and started forward. 'Let's go then.'

'Wait a minute,' Johnny said, grabbing his arm. 'What are we gonna do, huh? If Reese is in there, I mean.'

'I'm not going to let that bastard take Reese away from here.' Jimmy said darkly. 'I'm going to do to him what I should have done the first time I saw him back here.'

Johnny grinned. 'So no holding back this time?'

'You're not touching him.' Jimmy replied as he headed across the street. 'This is my fight.'

Johnny looked momentarily disappointed, but followed anyway. They both jogged across the carpark, checking for anyone hanging around. There was a lazy glow coming from the reception of the motel but the blinds were drawn. The same went for room five. Jimmy went to the door and glanced around to see where Johnny was.

'Don't knock.' Johnny whispered, eyes sparkling with excitement. 'Just go in.'

Jimmy frowned vaguely. If he knocked then there was no way Gary would answer. Plus if Reese was there it would give him time to hide. If Gary had managed to convince Reese that it was a good idea to go with him then…

Before he had even realised Jimmy had barged into the door and it slammed open. He looked around, jaw set, and saw Gary sitting on the bed. He didn't look the slightest bit surprised. Reese was sitting on the dresser by the TV, eyes wide in alarm.

Jimmy was suddenly engulfed with anger. He ran to Gary, a snarl escaping him, and dragged him off the bed by his shirt. 'You _bastard_!' he yelled angrily, punching him hard in the face.

'Jimmy!' Reese yelled, jumping down. 'Stop it, Jimmy!'

He ran to the two struggling men, but Johnny grabbed him. 'It's alright, kid,' Johnny said. 'Just cool it. Let them get on with it.'

'No!' Reese yelled, struggling against Johnny.

Gary got to his feet and wiped the blood from his face. He glanced up at Jimmy and grinned. 'Finally got the balls to come down yourself, did you?'

Jimmy just lunged at him again but Gary jabbed him in the nose with his elbow. Jimmy stumbled back, thudding noisily into the wall. Gary ran at him but Jimmy grabbed him in a headlock, running him out of the open door and into the parking lot.

'Come on, Jimmy!' Gary laughed, breaking away from Jimmy's grip. 'You're not putting any effort in! Come on, hit me like you mean it.'

Jimmy swung at him again but missed. Gary elbowed him in the back of his head as he stumbled past.

'Pitiful,' Gary chuckled. 'Really, really pitiful.'

Jimmy straightened up and turned around. 'You think you could just come back here and take everything?' he yelled. 'Did you think I'd _let_ you?'

'Face it, Jimmy,' Gary shot. 'This was always going to happen. You were just keeping her warm for me.'

There was a yell from inside the motel room and Reese came running out. Johnny emerged shortly after and seized him by the back of his shirt, pulling him under his arm. He looked at his hand, scowling.

'He bit me!' Johnny cried, easily holding the struggling ten year old under his other arm.

Gary looked around to them and briefly let down his guard. Jimmy was on top of him in a flash, knocking his feet from under him and pinning him down on the ground. He struck him hard across his face with the back of his hand.

'They're not your family!' Jimmy yelled at him. 'They'll _never_ be your family!'

Gary laughed, blood streaming out of his nose. 'And you think they're yours? If you and Elliott were so close then why did she come see me, huh? Why did she spend the whole afternoon with me up by the lighthouse? You think you're so special, Jimmy, so _righteous_! You're just another sucker!'

Jimmy grabbed him by the throat and squeezed. 'You're dead!' he yelled.

'Reese!' Elliott's voice cut through the air and Jimmy glanced up. Gary tried to push him off, but Jimmy just returned his full attention to him and squeezed harder.

Elliott ran across the parking lot, stumbling as she went. Johnny seemed surprised to see her, and in his bewilderment Reese slipped out of his arms again and ran to Jimmy and Gary.

'_Reese_!' Elliott shrieked, racing towards them.

Reese ran to Jimmy and grabbed him by the back of his shirt, pulling on him. '_Get off_!' he yelled. 'Get off him!'

Jimmy didn't budge. Reese moved to the side of them and struck out with his fist, catching Jimmy hard on the ear. Jimmy released Gary and stumbled away, hand over his ear. He looked in shock at Reese, who was helping Gary up. Gary coughed and spluttered, face red and neck already bruising. Elliott came to a stop by Jimmy, staring at Reese in shock.

'Don't hit my dad, you bastard!' Reese yelled angrily at Jimmy, fists clenched by his sides.

Jimmy blinked, bewildered. He watched as Reese grabbed Gary's sleeve and clung on, staring in defiance at the three confused adults around him.


	18. The Last Straw

**A/N:** Well I know how I'm going to end this story now (not that I didn't have any idea, I just hadn't decided on one lol) and it's not going to please everyone, but hopefully it'll be okay. Should be in the next five or so chapters... I think. I couldn't handle this one being as long as the last one. I would have gone keerrazzzy D:

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

**The Last Straw**

Elliott allowed herself to look up at the three males crowding her apartment and felt her stomach churn for the hundredth time that night. Jimmy was by the window, arms folded and keeping his back to everyone. Reese was perched on the arm of the armchair, looking glumly down at his feet. Gary sat in the armchair and was examining the bruising on his neck in a small mirror he had taken from the bathroom. The silence was excruciating, but Elliott couldn't think of a way to interrupt it. It had been her idea to bring them all here so they could talk, but no she was beginning to think it hadn't been one of her brightest ideas.

Elliott opened her mouth and took a breath, but not a single word came to mind. Reese glanced up to her expectantly. She closed her mouth again and glanced away. Gary prodded at his neck and hissed in pain.

'Son of a-' he started.

'What the hell is he doing here anyway?' Jimmy snarled, whirling around from the window and gesturing to Gary. 'I mean, does he really have a say in any of this? Really?'

Elliott opened her mouth to answer, but was beaten to it by Reese. 'Of course he does!' Reese frowned. 'He's my dad!'

Jimmy rubbed his forehead. 'Go to your room, Reese,' he sighed. 'This is for us to sort out.'

'No way,' Reese scowled. 'I'm not doing anything you say. You're not my dad.'

Jimmy's face flushed with anger. He looked like he was about to yell, but instead he turned back to the window and crossed his arms firmly over his chest again.

'I think you should listen to Jimmy, Reese-' Elliott began.

'No!' Reese stood up and turned his angry stare on you. 'No I won't mom. I'm sick of being treated like a frigging idiot. He's _my_ dad, and I think I have as much as a right as anyone to know whether Jimmy's going to force him out of town or not.'

Elliott glanced to Gary, feeling a surge of anger for him setting Reese off like this. Gary was just watching silently, still sat far back in his seat. If anything he just seemed faintly amused by the whole thing. Elliott pushed herself to her feet, still feeling a little unsteady, and moved to her son.

'Reese, seriously. We all need to sit down and talk about his calmly, and it's not going to help if you're shouting like that. Now go to your room and go to bed. It's far too late for you.'

'I'm not some dumb kid!' Reese yelled at her. 'I don't see what there is to talk about! So what if my dad and Jimmy hated each other at school? That was years ago! And you've never been happy with Jimmy so now that my dad's back the three of us can just be a real family-'

Elliott closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead hard. She heard Jimmy muttering by the window. 'It's not as simple as that.'

'Well you obviously like my dad or else you wouldn't have been kissing him yesterday!'

Elliott's eyes widened. The room fell deathly silent. 'How did you…?'

'You _what_?' Jimmy demanded, turning around angrily.

Elliott looked around to him worriedly and then turned back to Reese. 'Go to your room.' She told him.

'I'm not going anywhere-' he started.

'_I said go to your room_!' Elliott yelled, pointing to the bedrooms.

Reese went rigid and stared at her in disbelief. Both Jimmy and Gary also stared at her in surprise. She had never raised her voice to such a pitch before and no one was more surprised to hear it than Elliott. She put a hand to her mouth and blinked.

'Better do as your mom says, kid.' Gary said quietly.

Reese glanced to him with a frown. Obviously he didn't want to leave, but now it looked like he didn't have much of a choice. But he clearly hadn't finished speaking his part. 'I want my dad around.' He said firmly. 'We were talking for hours, and I've got more in common with him than I have with you or Jimmy or anyone.'

Elliott sat down on the couch and rested her forehead on her fist. 'Just go to your room.' She said quietly.

Reese puffed up defiantly again, but then relaxed. With a brief glance to Jimmy, he turned and marched out of the room. He stomped down the corridor and was then silenced as his bedroom door slammed shut. The room fell silent once again.

'He's a good kid.' Gary said finally, nodding appreciatively.

Jimmy whirled around and advanced angrily on Gary again, but Elliott stood up and held her arm out. 'If you're going to start again then you can take it out on the street.'

'I can't believe you, Elliott.' Jimmy hissed, turning on her. 'Was Reese telling the truth? How could you? After everything I've done for both of you, you just go and throw it all back in my face.'

Elliott could feel something bubbling inside of her and she tried her best to keep it down. 'Jimmy… it wasn't like that. I was just…'

'Is that what you want?' Jimmy demanded. 'You want that deranged psychopath bringing up Reese? I bet he doesn't even have a job! What kind of life would the two of you have with that loser, huh? You think he would even stick around?'

Gary lifted a hand. 'I'd appreciate it if you included me in the conversation.'

'Piss off you bastard.' Jimmy spat at him.

Gary smirked and shrugged his shoulders. 'Hey, I'm trying to be friendly. It's you that has the problem, friend.'

Jimmy gritted his teeth and turned back to Elliott. 'Is that what you want? Tell me and I'll get out of the way of your fucked up little family unit.'

Elliott pushed her hair back off her face and shook her head. 'Jimmy, don't. Please… just calm down so we can talk about this, right?'

'Just tell him to go already,' Gary said, waving an impatient hand. 'It probably wouldn't have been long before he started hitting the bottle and knocking you from one room to the next.' He narrowed his eyes at Jimmy. 'Psychos like Jimmy always end up the same.'

Jimmy took a threatening step forward. 'Like anyone's going to trust a guy who spent three years in the nuthouse.'

Gary leaned forward and scowled. 'That was _your_ fault, Jimmy. You ruined _everything_.'

'No, _you_ screwed it up, Gary!' Jimmy snarled. 'You had your chance for people to respect you and you blew it. Go back to the gutter where you belong, you scumbag.'

Elliott took a breath. 'Stop it.'

'Come on then, Elliott,' Jimmy scowled, turning on her again. 'What's it going to be? Because as long as he's here, I'm not. Simple as that.'

'I'm not going anywhere while Reese is here.' Gary replied. 'Simple as that.'

Elliott massaged her temples. Her heart was thudding in her chest.

'Come on, Elliott!' Jimmy demanded. 'What is it?'

'Yeah, Elliott,' Gary added. 'Tell Jimmy to beat it already.'

'Shut up!' she cried, a sob bursting out. 'Just _shut up_!'

The two men blinked and recoiled. Elliott dropped onto the couch, collapsing into tears. She had tried to suppress them but the mixture of the stress and the alcohol in her system had done little to help. She leaned forward, her arms draped over her knees and her forehead resting on her arms and she sobbed openly. Down the hall Reese's door creaked open. Jimmy stood beside her awkwardly while Gary just watched grimly.

'Hey now,' Jimmy said quietly, kneeling beside her. 'I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to yell at you I just…' He reached out and rubbed her back. She snapped away from him like he was on fire.

'I can't do this.' She said, face streaked with tears. She looked from Jimmy to Gary and shook her head. 'I just… I can't do this.' She stood up and moved to the door.

'Elliott?' Gary frowned, finally rising from his seat.

Elliott grabbed the door handle and pulled open the door.

'Mom?'

She looked around. Reese stood in the doorway, dressed in his pyjamas and looking worriedly at her. Elliott bit her lip almost hard enough to make it bleed, and she shook her head.

'I can't.' she said again, and then left, slamming the door behind her.


	19. Pride Is A Hard Thing To Swallow

**Chapter Nineteen**

**Pride Is A Hard Thing To Swallow**

Jimmy grabbed the door handle but he only managed to pull it open a crack before Gary's hand slammed on it. Jimmy looked around, teeth grinding, and glared up at the other man.

'I really don't think you want to leave me here, do you?' he smirked, eyebrows lowering knowingly.

Jimmy stared hard at him. He was right. He didn't want to leave Gary here with Reese, but he didn't want him to be the one to go after Elliott. But he couldn't leave Reese alone…

'I'm sorry Jimmy,' Reese blurted suddenly, wide blue eyes brimming with tears. 'I didn't mean to say those things I just… I got carried away with myself… I've upset mom now haven't I? Is she going to come back?'

Jimmy's hand tightened on the handle and he stared defiantly at Gary for a moment. Gary just looked back, always with that faint ghost of a smirk on his face. He had known this was going to happen; that's why he had said so little. He was still the same scheming, vindictive little…

'Jimmy?' Reese sniffed.

Jimmy managed to look away from Gary and move away from the door. He crossed the room to Reese and put his hands on his shoulders. 'It's okay, kid. Your mom is just upset. You know she's had it pretty rough the past week, what with her losing her job and everything with... your dad.'

The door clicked and Jimmy gritted his teeth. Gary had gone after her. No doubt he would put his brilliant manipulative skills into action and have her on his side in seconds. Jimmy wasn't going to allow that to happen.

'Get your clothes on, Reese,' he found himself saying. 'We're going to get your mom back.'

* * *

Elliott ran up the middle of the street, feet hitting hard off the concrete and heart thudding in her chest. She had no idea how long it had been since she had run like this. Probably never. She had never felt the need to run like the Devil was hot on her heels ready to stick that red-hot poker where it didn't rightly belong.

She had just had to get out of there. It had felt like the walls were closing in on her. One more moment and she would have either gone completely insane or said something she would have regretted later. So fleeing had been the only decent option. Well, perhaps not the _only_ decent option… perhaps not even a _decent_ option… but she was gone now. She was running through the middle of New Coventry at three thirty in the morning with no idea where she was headed.

She managed to get to the train yard by the BMX park before her legs gave out on her and she simply couldn't run anymore. She stopped, relying heavily on the wall beside her to keep her upright and sucked in long, deep breaths. Black spots threatened her vision so she rapidly blinked them away.

'Okay then genius,' she huffed. 'What now?'

Well she couldn't go very far, could she? She had left Reese back at the flat, along with all the essentials like her coat, her purse, her money…

But she couldn't face going back there. Jimmy and Gary were probably in the middle of killing each other, trashing her flat, while Reese would be getting hysterical and…

She closed her eyes tightly. A little bit of confrontation and she had run for the hills, leaving behind the one person she needed to be strong for. Maybe Jimmy and Gary should just take Reese, they would probably do a better job with him than she ever could. She was a terrible mother; she couldn't even lay down the law with her own son anymore. Jimmy had been the stern voice for so long, and after tonight Jimmy would most certainly want nothing to do with any of them. How the hell was she going to control him now? And with an influence like Gary around there was no way in hell…

'There you are. Geez you've got some legs on you.'

Elliott groaned. 'Why can't you just leave me alone?'

Gary trotted up to her and pushed his hands in his pockets. He stopped beside her, regarding her thoughtfully. 'Are you okay?' he asked.

She glared up at him. 'I'm just _peachy_.' She snarled.

He raised an eyebrow. 'Well then, if everything is okay I guess I'll just carry on my way…' He turned and began to leave.

'Wait.' Elliott sighed heavily. He turned around again, expression sympathetic. Neither of them said anything for a long moment.

'He's a good kid.' Gary commented finally. 'You did a good job with him.'

Elliott frowned. 'I know I did. I don't need you to tell me that.'

Gary chuckled. 'Right. Like you weren't standing here telling yourself you were such a bad person for leaving Reese behind like that.'

Elliott reached out and shoved him angrily. 'You can't do that!' she yelled. 'You can't just pretend you know me! It's been ten years, Gary. I'm not the same stupid little schoolgirl you knew back then.'

'So people keep telling me,' Gary replied. 'But from what I've seen you're still the same negative, indecisive little girl that claimed to hate everyone and everything but couldn't stand to be left out in the cold. That looks like it's still right, doesn't it? Tell me I'm wrong.'

'You're wrong.'

'I don't believe you.'

Elliott rubbed her face in exasperation. 'You want me to tell you the truth then?' she scowled. 'Okay. Fine. I _was_ waiting for you to come back. I spent a long time waiting for you to come back to Bullworth so we could make a go of it even though I knew fine well you would have run a mile back then. But I _stopped_ waiting and I got on with my life. Your chance to have a real family with me and Reese has long gone, and it's not coming back again.'

Gary frowned. 'So what, you going to send me packing? Like Jimmy will take you back now.'

'I don't care about that.' Elliott shot at him. 'I don't care about you or Jimmy anymore. The only person I care about is Reese, and I'm not prepared to stand back and watch you turn him into the same deranged psychopath that you turned into. Do you understand that? Can't you see why I don't want you anywhere near my son? You spent three years in a mental institution, Gary. You've got no business around _anyone's_ kids, let alone your own.'

Gary's eyes darkened. 'You can't stop me seeing him.'

'Oh I can.' Elliott laughed humourlessly.

He narrowed his eyes at her. 'You wouldn't.'

She returned the look. 'Try me.'

Gary stared at her, trying to figure out whether she was bluffing. 'What would Reese say about it? He told me he's always wanted to get to know his dad. You think it's fair on him if I just suddenly disappear again.'

'He'll understand.' Elliott shrugged.

'You can't do that!' Gary yelled angrily. 'I'm not going back to that city and leaving him behind! I can't go back to that life, Elliott. I _won't_ go back to it. I'm here now and I don't care what you say about it, I'm not leaving. You can get those head case Greasers to beat on me as much as you want, but I'm not leaving my son behind.'

Elliott moved away from him, shaking her head. 'That's your problem, not mine. When it comes down to it I'm the only person in this equation who can say what goes.'

Gary moved forward, deciding that the aggressive approach wasn't working. 'Elliott, please. I don't want to fight you anymore. I'm tired of fighting people. All I want is to get to know Reese. I… There doesn't have to be anything between us. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't want to but… I can't not see him.'

Elliott's hardened expression softened a little. 'Gary…' she started, then stopped and sighed. 'It's just not going to happen.'

He moved forward and took her hand. 'Elliott. Please.'

She looked up at him, trying to figure out if the sad look on his face was genuine. She had always thought she understood him somewhat, but the truth was that she never had. And if you had never understood someone, how did you know if they had changed or not? She cast her eyes down again. 'I-'

A revving engine interrupted her and the two of them looked around in alarm to see two gleaming headlights at the end of the street. They both watched, confused, as the engine revved again and the wheels squealed noisily. Both Elliott and Gary went rigid with shock as the car hurtled towards the two of them.


	20. The End Of The Line

**Chapter Twenty**

**The End Of The Line**

_'So, Miss uh…' The stout doctor took an awfully long time in checking the chart in her hands. 'Nixon.' She found finally. She peered over the top of her half-rimmed glasses and narrowed her eyes at Elliott. After a briefly judging her, she smiled wanly. 'What can we do for you?'_

_ Elliott's mouth was firmly closed, but she breathed heavily through her nostrils like a bull. She sat in the plastic chair in the waiting area of Bullworth Emergency Centre, one hand firmly planted on the bottom of her swollen stomach. She glared at the doctor, and then rolled her eyes to Ms Phillips in warning. Ms Phillips quickly gave Elliott's arm a supportive squeeze and offered the doctor a friendly smile._

_ 'Well, doctor,' Ms Phillips replied pleasantly. 'Elliott has been having pains for about an hour or so now, and she is quite near her due date, so…'_

_ 'It's not coming now,' Elliott stated. 'It's not due for two weeks. It's not coming now.'_

_ The doctor eyed Elliott for a moment. 'Okay… Well, Elliott, if you'd like to come this way.' She paused. 'Would you like me to get you a wheelchair?'_

_ Elliott pushed herself up out of the chair, legs parted and bent to take her extra weight. 'I'll be fine, thank you.' She said grouchily, then immediately winced as another pain shot around the base of her abdomen._

_ Ms Phillips got her arm. 'Come on, Elliott,' she said in an annoyingly chirpy voice. 'We'll just go in a room so the doctor can have a look at you and check everything is okay with the baby.'_

_ Elliott just continued to frown, shuffling along after the doctor uncomfortably. 'It's not coming out today,' she said again. 'I won't let it. I'll clench.'_

_ Ms Phillips looked bewildered. 'If today is the day, Elliott, then there's not much you can do about it…'_

_ 'Hey, mommy!' a little, blonde haired child with a plaster over one eye called out, pointing directly at Elliott's feet. 'That fat girl just peed herself!'_

_ Elliott's brow immediately darkened and she looked down. 'Oh… shit…' she muttered._

_ 'Well there's your waters gone!' the doctor said cheerily. 'Guess you made the right decision to come to the hospital, Miss Nixon. This way please, we'll get you into a bed and ready for the delivery.'_

_ Delivery? Elliott thought, panicked. No way, the only delivery she was going to be experiencing today was that pizza she was going to order later. No babies today. Babies aren't on the calendar until two weeks away. _

_ 'Oh no,' Elliott shook her head, backing away. 'No. Just no. I'm not due yet.' She looked down at her stomach. 'Did you hear that?' she told her bump. 'You're not coming out yet, so stop being a pain in the ass!'_

_ Ms Phillips took her arm. 'Come on Elliott, we need to get you to lie down. It will be wonderful! Childbirth is a beautiful thing, you'll see. It'll be worth it in the end.'_

_ Elliott turned and shot her an angry glare. 'Beautiful huh? I bet you wouldn't be saying that if you had to squeeze a frigging melon out of your-'_

_ 'Please, Miss Nixon,' the doctor insisted, now looking anxious. 'We have to get you into a delivery suite. Or do you want to have your baby right here in the waiting room?'_

_ She looked around grumpily. There were only a dozen or so other people in the waiting room, but every single one of them were watching Elliott. Finally, she nodded. 'Right. Fine. But its not coming- _OW!_' She doubled a little and clutched her stomach as a pain shot through her._

_ 'Baby says otherwise.' Ms Phillips smiled, helping her along. 'Come on now. Oh, I'm so excited! I just love the magic of human procreation.'_

_ Elliott continued to seethe as Ms Phillips led her out of the waiting room after the doctor, and said nothing.

* * *

_

Jimmy took the stairs two at a time, hoping that Gary and Elliott hadn't been given too much of a head start. He could hear Reese following clumsily, probably pulling on his coat whilst he ran down the stairs. Jimmy knew that Reese should really stay in the house, but he knew it would be a bad idea to leave him on his own, and he simply couldn't stand the idea of Gary being the one to bring Elliott back.

'Jimmy man, slow down!' Reese insisted. By the sound of his voice he was a whole flight of stairs behind him.

Jimmy sighed in exasperation and stopped, glancing back. Reese was hurrying down the narrow staircase, fumbling with the zip on his hooded jacket. He caught up with Jimmy and looked up at him. His face was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes. Jimmy nodded to him and they carried on down to the exit.

'You're not mad at me, are you Jimmy?' Reese asked as they headed outside. The air was cold and crisp and the first signs of sunrise were beginning to make themselves clear in the sky. 'Because I didn't mean it, man. I don't hate you. I think you're cool. And I'm sorry I hit you, I just didn't like you hitting my dad like that and…'

'Don't worry about it,' Jimmy told him as he quickly moved along the street. 'I understand.'

Reese jogged alongside him, hair flopping in his eyes. He brushed it aside impatiently and frowned. 'No. I was totally out of order, man. I shouldn't have hit you like that. It was stupid. And now I've upset mom as well.' He looked down worriedly. 'Do you think she'll come back? Do you think she'll run away?'

Jimmy shot him a sympathetic look. 'Your mom would never run away from you. You know that. She's just mixed up right now. We're going to find her, calm her down and bring her home. Everything will be fine in the morning, you'll see.'

Reese frowned thoughtfully. 'You don't hate me, do you?'

Jimmy stopped and turned to him. He took the young boy's shoulders in his hands and moved close to him. 'I'll never hate you, Reese. Got that?'

Reese nodded. 'Okay, Jimmy.'

'Good.' Jimmy nodded firmly and let go of him. He glanced around the street whilst mindlessly ruffling Reese's hair. 'Which way do you think she would have gone?'

Reese looked around thoughtfully, and then pointed straight ahead. 'That way probably.' He said. 'That alley goes up towards Yum Yums and stuff. She always tells me to avoid alleys and stuff but she always uses it as a shortcut. All the roads go to the underpass, so we'll get there quicker anyway if she went a different way.'

Jimmy couldn't help but smile a little at him. 'You're a smart kid, Reese.'

Reese grinned proudly. 'I know.'

'Mom's going to be okay, isn't she?' Reese asked as they quickly headed up the alley.

'She's just upset, that's all. We'll find her, calm her down and take her home again. She'll be fine.' He started walking again, coming up to the end of the alley that led to the back of Yum Yums.

Reese jogged to catch up with him. 'I know you hate my dad, Jimmy, but I really want to see him.'

'I know kid.' Jimmy replied quietly.

'Will you let me?'

'It's got nothing to do with me. Not anymore.'

Reese opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. He also stopped walking, cocking his head to the left. 'I think I hear mom.'

Jimmy glanced around to him and frowned. 'You do?' He listened. 'I don't hear anything.'

Reese glanced around, frowning, and then took the lead and circled around the front of Yum Yums. Jimmy followed, still straining to hear whatever Reese could. _Young ears_, he mused. When Reese reached the corner Jimmy was just outside of the store, but he saw the young boys face brighten and knew that they had found her. He jogged to join Reese and stopped beside him.

Elliott and Gary were standing in the middle of the road, talking intensely. Elliott was visibly upset. Jimmy started forward, and then stopped in his tracks at the sound of a revving engine. His eyebrows shot up and he looked down the street to see blinding headlights and the faint outline of a car behind them. Both Elliott and Gary looked around and just stood there, staring at the waiting car. Jimmy also stood staring, his brain unwilling to process what was coming. It was only when the car tires squealed and he felt a whoosh of air beside him as Reese sprinted from his side when he realised what was happening. He grabbed for Reese, but he was already running towards the couple in the road.

_'Reese_!' Jimmy yelled, attempting to follow.

Reese sprinted towards his parents, racing the oncoming car. Elliott was frozen, blinking at the approaching headlights in bewilderment, but Gary snapped out of the shock quickly. He grabbed Elliott and dragged her aside, just as Reese reached the spot where they had been standing.

The car attempted to stop. The tires squealed noisily and the smell of burning rubber filled the air. But the driver had had their foot down so there was no chance of it stopping. Reese had a moment to look genuinely startled before the car slammed into him. He rolled over the bonnet, cracking the windshield, and landed on the road in a heap.


	21. Family Portrait

**A/N: **I decided it would probably be quite cruel to leave on that cliffhanger tonight (because I hate cliffhangers myself, well, I love them but... meh you know lol) so here's the next one now instead of tomorrow :D (Even though, if I'm honest, nothing much happens xD)

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-One**

**Family Portrait**

_'Elliott, sweetheart, you're going to have to start pushing.'_

_ The small, beige, disinfectant smelling room was growing increasingly claustrophobic. Elliott was on the bed, her legs strapped up humiliatingly in stirrups with the stout doctor stuck between them, only the top of her head visible above the bottom of Elliott's hospital gown. Behind the doctor there seemed to be a group of observing nurses, watching the situation between Elliott's legs whilst holding all kinds of terrible instruments of torture in their hands. Ms Phillips was by the bed, gripping tightly onto Elliott's hand and practically beaming with delight._

_ 'Here he comes, Elliott!' she beamed. 'Nine months of waiting and here he comes! How wonderful!'_

_ 'He's _not_ coming!' Elliott roared, sweat running down his forehead. 'He's not _due_!'_

_ 'Come on, honey,' the stout doctor said in an annoyingly calm voice. 'You can do this. When I tell you to just push as hard as you can, okay? He'll pop out like a cork in a champagne bottle I promise.'_

_ 'No he won't!' Elliott snarled. 'He can get back in there and sit tight until _I'm_ ready, got that? You hear that, kid? Get back inside and be frigging patient!' _

_ 'Okay, okay… come on, Elliott push!' the doctor cried. 'Push!'_

_ Elliott sucked in a deep breath and held it, focusing all her energies into ignoring the instinct to push. The doctor's head poked up suddenly and she looked at Elliott in bewilderment._

_ 'Christ!' she cried. 'What on Earth are you doing, girl?'_

_ Elliott's face was growing red. She hadn't held her breath this long since she had been four and she had wanted a bunny shaped balloon at the funfair. Her mom had let her pass out, and she was beginning to think that she was going to have a repeat of that sometime soon. _

_ 'You can't stop it, Elliott,' the doctor told her, shaking her head. 'It's now and there's nothing you can do about it. Now stop being a little brat and _push_!'_

_ Elliott screamed out, partially in frustration but mostly in pain, and her control on the situation just slipped away. She was faintly aware of Ms Phillips politely asking for her hand back, but Elliott just gripped it harder than ever. _

_ 'He's not due!' she insisted. 'I have two weeks!'_

_ But the baby wasn't going to wait two weeks._

_ In fact, he was out and screaming blue murder two minutes later.

* * *

_

_ By the time Jimmy arrived at the hospital, the dramatics were over. Elliott sat in the bed, now thankfully with her legs unstrapped, with Ms Phillips sitting nearby with her hand bandaged up. Jimmy lingered in the doorway for a moment, unsure of whether or not to enter. _

_ 'Come on in, Jimmy,' Ms Phillips told him, spotting him peering in. 'Don't be shy.'_

_ He moved into the room tentatively, unsure to what Elliott's reaction to him would be. But to his surprise she looked up and smiled. She smiled brilliantly at him. Her face was pale but her eyes were sparkling. In her arms she held what looked like a bunch of blankets. _

_ 'I like him,' Elliott confirmed, still smiling. 'He doesn't cry, he just gurgles.'_

_ Jimmy approached the side of the bed and peered into the mass of blankets. The baby was tiny, with podgy little fingers that were grasping out rhythmically for anything. His eyes were huge and blue, looking around in awe at the lights above the bed. On his head was a mop of dark hair. _

_ Jimmy just smiled. He would have lost major manly points if he had said 'aww'. 'He's beautiful.' He said._

_ 'Well I don't need you to tell me that.' Elliott smirked, rolling her eyes. 'He's my kid. What did you expect?'_

_ Jimmy laughed before tentatively putting his finger into the baby's hand. The baby gripped onto him firmly, little fingers curling around his. _

_ 'He likes you.' Elliott nodded, and then shot him another smirk. 'At least someone does.'_

_ Smiling, Ms Phillips rose from her seat. 'I'm going to go get a coffee. I'll leave you three to it.'_

_ Elliott watched her go and then looked up to Jimmy. 'I'm not going through that again.' She told him. 'Seriously. Childbirth? _Way_ overrated. Be glad you're a guy.'_

_ 'I am.' Jimmy nodded, still smiling at the baby who was still clutching his finger. 'So do we have a name yet?'_

_ Elliott looked down at the child and cocked her head thoughtfully. 'Well… I was thinking maybe… Eric?'_

_ Jimmy laughed. 'Seriously? Do you want him to be tortured for the majority of his life?'_

_ She frowned at him. 'What's wrong with Eric?'_

_ 'It would be easier to list what's_ right _with Eric. Answer; nothing.'_

_ Elliott frowned again. 'Okay, not Eric then. Um… Jonathon?'_

_ 'After Johnny Vincent?'_

_ 'Okay, that's a no. How about Reese?'_

_ Jimmy contemplated it for a moment. 'Yeah. Reese is okay.'_

_ Elliott smiled happily at the baby. 'Well then,' she said softly to the little baby. 'Welcome to Bullworth, Reese Nixon. Hope you have a better time here than we did.'

* * *

_

The car swerved a little and slowed, as if the driver were about to stop and get out. There was a hesitation, then another squeal of tires as the car tore away and disappeared around the corner. Gary and Elliott, still disorientated, looked around in confusion. Gary noticed Reese first and his eyes widened, his hands automatically tightening on Elliott's arms. Elliott, meanwhile, noticed Jimmy first. She watched him in confusion as he ran to the road and dropped to his knees beside the small, crumpled body. She stared at Reese for a moment, uncomprehending.

'Reese?' she mumbled, staring. Her eyes began to widen and she broke from Gary's hands. '_Reese_?' She sprinted to the road and dropped to her knees beside him. 'Reese!' she yelled, grabbing him and lifting him up to her arms. She shrieked his name again, clutching his hand and cradling him. His face was bloody and his eyes were shut. His body felt limp and heavy in her arms.

Jimmy stood up and stepped back, staring in shock. Gary moved closer. Somewhere in the distance car tires squealed as the hit and run driver raced away through Bullworth Town.

'Jimmy!' Elliott sobbed. 'Jimmy he's not waking up! Do something! _Someone do something_!'

'Ambulance…' Jimmy muttered, then looked up at Gary. 'I'll go call an ambulance.'

'I've got it,' Gary told him. 'Stay with them.' He turned to go, but was stopped by Jimmy gripping tightly onto his arm. He turned, frowning, ready for a confrontation. But for once, Jimmy wasn't looking at Gary with unabridged anger in his eyes.

'Stay with them.' He said firmly.

Gary blinked at him and then half nodded. He watched as Jimmy turned and sprinted down to the payphone at the bottom of the street.

'_Gary_!' Elliott wailed. 'He's not _moving_!' She turned her face back to Reese, cradling him in her arms. 'Reese! _Reese_!'

Gary dropped beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. 'Try not to move him too much,' he said. 'Jimmy's calling an ambulance, okay? They'll be here any minute…'

'Who was in that car?' Elliott sobbed. 'Who would do this to my baby? Why?' She burst into tears, cuddling Reese to her chest.

Gary found himself opening his mouth to point out that it had looked like the person in the car had been aiming for them, but quickly realised that that probably wasn't the best thing to say right now. He looked up to see if Jimmy was coming back. Jimmy put down the phone and came jogging back, wide-eyed and breathless.

'It's on it's way.' He confirmed, and then started heading away.

Gary got to his feet. 'Where are you going?' he demanded.

Jimmy didn't stop. 'Make sure they get to the hospital, Gary. You can do that, right?'

Gary frowned deeply. 'What are you, going home?' He heard a note in his voice that he had never heard before. It was almost desperate. With a horrific understanding he realised he didn't want Jimmy to go.

'I'm going to find out who was driving that car.' Jimmy told him, voice low. 'Now go and look after your family, okay?'

Gary just stood and watched Jimmy sprint away around the corner, and he turned back to Elliott and Reese. Elliott was rocking him in her arms, muttering to him in a high, wavering voice and brushing his hair from his face. Gary moved to them again and knelt down.

'Elliott you have to keep him still-' he started.

'Who would do this?' she cried, interrupting him, obviously hysterical beyond reasoning. 'He's not waking up, Gary. He's not moving!'

Gary felt his heart pounding. 'The ambulance is on its way.' He told her, and then reached forward to feel for Reese's pulse. Just as his fingers pressed against the side of the young boy's neck, Reese spluttered.

'_Reese_!' Elliott sobbed. 'Oh God, _Reese_…'

Reese struggled to open one eye. His bottom lip moved, and Gary noticed where most of the blood was coming from. He had a gash running from the corner of his mouth to his jaw line. 'M… mom?' he croaked.

'Don't, just sshh,' Elliott told him, holding him closer. 'The ambulance is coming. We're going to get you all patched up, okay?'

Gary lifted his head as the sound of sirens filled the air. He stood up and moved away a little, just as the ambulance came around the corner. He flagged it down and it came to a stop. Seconds later and two paramedics jumped out, immediately with a million questions to what happened. Gary stood back and watched.

He wanted to know who had been in that car too. Jimmy would catch them, he knew that, but he wanted to be there. But he couldn't leave Reese. He was torn a moment, and almost began to head away up the street, but he stopped as Elliott moved towards him. The paramedics were moving Reese onto a stretcher. Elliott gripped Gary's hand in one of hers, and then gripped Reese's hand with the other.

Gary knew he wasn't going to leave them now. Jimmy would catch up with whoever had been in that car. There was no doubt about it.


	22. Loyalty Is A Weakness

**A/N: **Phew, it's hard to write angsty and depressing when you're in such a good mood :D Been watching the Formula 1 this morning and yayz for Jenson Button xD!!! Although the shortened race was a complete cop out... But still, onto the more important things in life... this story is going to be over in a couple of chapters. I've been back to planning the next one (which I have been putting FAR too much work in) and I have a total of 50 OCs for the new year at Bullworth. Seriously. I don't know if anyone is going to even want to read a story with so many OCs, but the school is still the same, and the teachers are all still there... it should work. It better work. I spent a bloody long time looking for names D:

Enough rambling. Onwards!!

(Oh, and go vote on the poll on my profile page. It's very important)

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Loyalty Is A Weakness**

No one in Bullworth left their houses between the hours of three am and six am, which meant there were absolutely no cars on the road. This worked in Jimmy's favour as he could still hear a faint, idling engine somewhere on the far side of Bullworth Town and as he sprinted down the middle of the road towards it, he knew it would be the car that had just hit Reese.

Jimmy allowed himself to go on autopilot. If he allowed himself to stop and replay what had just happened in his head he probably wouldn't even stop to see who the person was in the car. He would just kill them.

The sound of the idling engine was louder now as he passed the old comic books store. He slowed to a trot, alert for the sounds of anyone running away. Then he saw the car. It was parked clumsily by the curb; front left wheel on the sidewalk and the other three on the road. The driver door stood open and the headlights cast a glow across the tarmac. Jimmy circled it and his stomach churned and the dented hood and the cracked windshield.

This was definitely the car.

And it was parked right outside of his apartment.

Jimmy looked towards the door that led into his apartment building and stared at it for a moment. It was standing half open. He hesitated, and then quickly went inside, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached his level.

Who the hell would come to him after running Reese down? Would the expect him to try and cover for them or something? Fair enough Jimmy had the reputation for sorting out people's problems for them, but not when it came to attempted murder. Whoever it was had just made a massive mistake by going to his place. Massive.

Jimmy was breathless when he reached his floor and stood on the landing, looking along the short corridor. The light bulb at the end of the hall was out, casting the corners into near black darkness. Even though it was dark, Jimmy could see the outline of someone standing there. Someone in a leather jacket.

'Is that you, Johnny? Get the hell out where I can see you!' Jimmy yelled angrily. 'Do you have any idea what the hell you've just done? You've just mowed down a ten year old kid! _Ten years old_! Do you have any…' He trailed off as the person stepped out.

'Jimmy man…' Peanut stammered, face pale and slightly sweaty. 'I… I didn't see him run out, man, you've got to believe me. I didn't want to hurt anyone, man. I… I just wanted to scare Gary and Elliott, y'know? I gave them plenty of time to move out of the way, y'know? I just didn't see him running out…'

Jimmy's lips curled back and he ran forward, grabbing Peanut by his collar and slamming him up against the wall. '_Do you have any idea what you've done_?' Jimmy yelled, furious.

Peanut cowered. 'Seriously man, it was an accident! I… I didn't mean to! I wouldn't hurt them really, you know that! Just Johnny told me about the whole thing at the motel and he wanted to get back at Gary and Elliott, y'know? For messing you around like that. So I said I'd do something and Johnny said I couldn't do nothing and so I got in the car and went for a drive to cool off cos he made me mad, y'know? And then I saw them both in the street and got really angry. I thought if I scared them some then they might stop messing you around. They moved when I thought they would but then… then Reese came out of nowhere and…'

Jimmy shook him, pushing him hard against the wall again. 'You just _drove away_!' he snarled. 'You just left him in the street! You…' He exhaled sharply and moved away rubbing his face in both his hands. He paced a little, and then shot an angry glare at Peanut. 'You're lucky I don't kill you right now.'

Peanut winced worriedly. 'It was an accident, Jimmy. I swear.'

Jimmy paced again, running it over in his head. If it had been Johnny he would have killed him, mainly because Johnny would have been intent on killing Gary and Elliott, not just scaring them. Peanut on the other hand, he may be able to beat someone senseless but he would never _kill_ someone. And if he did something this stupid you just knew it was for someone else. In this case, he had done it to prove a point to Johnny and to try and help out Jimmy. It was stupid, dangerous, but Peanut wasn't the only one to blame in this. It would have happened sooner or later.

'Is he okay?' Peanut asked, pulling anxiously on his jacket.

Jimmy pushed him up against the wall again. 'If he's dead I'm going to come back and kill you, got that?'

Peanut nodded rapidly. 'Yeah, Jimmy.'

'Get that car away from my apartment.' Jimmy told him, turning and storming towards the stairs. 'Then go back home.'

'Jimmy,' Peanut called after him. 'Seriously, man. It was an accident.'

Jimmy paused, hand on the rail. 'I know.' He muttered, and then headed down the stairs to make his way to the hospital.

* * *

Elliott hopped out of the ambulance and closely followed the paramedics who rushed Reese into the building. Her cheeks were streaked with tears and her hands were trembling and she struggled to get alongside the trolley to be by Reese. He had woken once in the ambulance to groggily ask where his soccer kit was, and then had fallen unconscious once again. At that point the paramedic had gotten quite worried about his stats. Elliott had been close to getting hysterical again, but Gary had kept a firm grip on her shoulders to keep her relatively calm.

'Where are you taking him?' Elliott asked, hurrying alongside the paramedics. 'Does he need surgery? What is wrong with him?'

Gary caught up with her and tried to pull her back a little. 'Elliott, they'll need some space….'

She snatched her hand away from him. 'I need to know what's wrong with him!' she hissed at Gary, and then turned back to the paramedic. 'Please tell me something!'

Doctors appeared suddenly and began to follow the trolley, asking the paramedics what had happened. Elliott was nudged back until she was left trailing with Gary beside her. She heard them say something about a fractured skull and a collapsed lung before she got hysterical again.

'Someone tell me what's wrong with him?' She wailed.

Gary grabbed her by the shoulders. 'Elliott, come on-' he started.

'Are you the boy's parents?' a tall, male doctor enquired, approaching the two of them.

Elliott nodded rapidly. 'Yes. I'm his mom. Tell me he's going to be okay, please.'

'He needs to go into surgery.' The doctor told her. 'He's showing signs of internal trauma.'

'Internal trauma?' Elliott cried. 'What the hell is that?'

'Please calm down, miss. There's nothing more I can tell you until he's in surgery.'

Elliott's eyebrows drew together. 'Just tell me if he's going to be okay!' she demanded.

The doctor shook his head. 'I can't answer that right now.' He told her, already heading away. 'I'll let you know what's happening as soon as I can.'

Elliott tried to follow him but Gary held her arm and pulled her back. 'There's nothing else we can do,' he told her. 'Let them do their job.'

She turned to him and grabbed his hands tightly, her eyes wide and desperate. 'He's just a baby, Gary,' she insisted. 'They can't take him away from me. They just can't. He's my baby, I'm nothing without him.'

Gary pulled her into a hug. 'It's okay. He'll be fine, you'll see. He's a tough kid.'

She burst into tears again and buried her face into his chest. 'I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't mean it. You can stay and be Reese's dad, I promise. If it means Reese will be okay then you can stay forever. Don't go, I couldn't stand to lose someone else. Please… please, don't leave me…'

Gary hugged her tighter. 'I'm not going anywhere.' He told her, and looked up the corridor to see if he could still see the doctors. They had disappeared into the emergency room along with Reese and he could hear them fussing around on the other side of the double doors, trying to repair the broken ten year old.

Reese had to be okay. Gary could find him after ten years just to have him taken away again. If something happened to him then Gary would hunt down whoever was responsible and anyone who got in the way, no matter who they were and whatever the consequences.


	23. The Inevitable Change

**A/N: **One chapter left after this one. I was going to write it tonight but I got distracted by QI. Now my brain is too weird to concentrate on writing :P But it'll be up tomorrow at some point. Probably :p

* * *

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**The Inevitable Change**

Jimmy quickly hurried through the doors to the Accident and Emergency wing of Bullworth Hospital, looking around for any signs of Elliott. The waiting room was quite full taking it was so early in the morning and the nurse on reception looked harassed and unhappy. Despite that Jimmy moved towards her, slipping in front of a woman who had obviously been there before him.

'Well excuse _me_!' the woman spat angrily.

Jimmy ignored her. 'I'm looking for Reese Nixon? He's just been brought in. He was hit by a car in-'

'Are you friend or relative?' the nurse droned uninterestedly.

'Uh… friend but-'

'I can only give out information to family.' The nurse told him. 'Next please.'

The waiting woman pushed Jimmy aside and stepped forward. Frowning, Jimmy nudged her out of the way. 'Well where's his mother? Where is she waiting?'

'The waiting room probably.' The nurse told him. 'I said next.'

The woman shoved Jimmy away again, glaring at him and daring him to try and take her turn again. He moved away, shaking his head. Big help she was. He moved down one of the many corridors, following the signs to the ER. He peered into windows as he passed, mind racing. Had the doctor's taken them somewhere else because something had happened to Reese? Maybe they were in a little doctor's office somewhere right now with someone feeding them the whole 'there was nothing we could do' thing and telling a distraught Elliott that they were 'sorry for her loss'.

Jimmy skidded to a halt as he peered into another window to see Elliott and Gary sitting alone in a small waiting room, surrounded by empty, plastic chairs. Elliott was sitting forward, face pale and eyes glassy. Gary sat beside her, hands in his lap and his head down. Jimmy knew then that they still hadn't heard anything. He lingered by the window, trying to decide whether or not to go inside. Could he face Elliott knowing that it was Peanut who had knocked down Reese? No, he didn't want to tell her yet. Not until he knew for certain if Reese was going to be okay. Peanut hadn't meant it…

Gary noticed him and stood up. Elliott barely moved as he put his hand gently on her shoulder, said something, and then moved to the door. Jimmy moved from the window, rubbing his head. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Gary, but in this situation it was inevitable.

Gary closed the door behind him, glancing briefly up the corridor before approaching Jimmy. 'So?' he asked, eyes wide. 'Who was it?'

Jimmy shrugged. 'I found the car,' he heard himself saying. 'But whoever had been driving must have ditched it.' As soon as he said it he felt guilty.

Gary regarded him for a moment. His right eye narrowed briefly, clearly showing that he didn't believe him. Jimmy felt a warm anger run through him and his jaw set. He tried to compose himself, telling himself that this wasn't the time or the place, but he couldn't help it.

'This is all your fault anyway,' he hissed, stepping towards him. 'You were so frigging adamant that it had to go your way. You couldn't just accept that she had moved on without you and crawl off back to where you had come from. If something happens to Reese-'

Gary jabbed him in his shoulder with his finger. 'Hey, don't try and pin this all on me, Jimmy-boy. If you and your pet thug hadn't burst into the motel in the first place then this would never have happened.'

Jimmy managed to restrain himself from shoving Gary back after a nurse passed and looked at them both disapprovingly. Still his teeth clenched and his eyebrows knitted together. 'Well I hope you're happy now,' he hissed. 'Looks like you've won. That's what you wanted, wasn't it? To push me out the picture? Keep them to yourself? Bet you've been waiting ten years to put me in my place, huh? Well bravo, Gary. Good show.'

Gary frowned and shook his head. 'This was never a competition, Jimmy,' he said in annoyance. 'Yeah, I still pretty much despise you with every fibre of my being, but I didn't come back to Bullworth with the sole intention of taking them away from you. I mean… I didn't even know you were _seeing_ Elliott. I didn't even know you guys talked!' He shook his head and began to pace a little. 'When I found out I was furious, of course. It was just _humiliating_ more than anything else but…' He stopped and looked at Jimmy for a moment, resentment clear in his eyes. 'If I'm honest I should be thanking you. You did a good job with Reese.'

Jimmy stared at him for a long moment, wondering if he had really heard what he thought he had just heard. Finally he blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. 'Well uh… thanks.' He stopped. 'I guess I shouldn't have been so hard on you in the beginning. Reese is your kid after all.'

Gary nodded, clearly as uncomfortable as Jimmy was. 'Well the important thing is if Reese is okay.' He turned and headed back to the waiting room.

Jimmy watched him and then found himself calling him back. 'Look, Gary,' he said, following him. 'About the driver…'

Gary turned to listen, but before Jimmy could go on the doors to the ER flapped open and a doctor stepped out, glancing up and down the hall. Gary and Jimmy looked at him expectantly.

'Are either of you Reese Nixon's father?' the doctor asked, approaching them.

Jimmy opened his mouth to answer automatically, but Gary beat him to it. 'Is he okay?' he asked quickly.

The doctor glanced briefly to Jimmy. 'The procedure went well…' he started.

'Wait,' Gary said, moving to the waiting room. 'His mom is in here.'

Jimmy stepped back and allowed Gary to take the doctor into the waiting room. He didn't follow them. Instead he watched through the window as the doctor began to speak slowly and carefully to Elliott and Gary. Elliott's hands were clasped tightly in front of her, like she was in prayer, and Gary had put his arm around her waist. The doctor spoke for a while, and then finally Elliott burst into tears. Jimmy's heart skipped a beat. Bad news?

No, not bad news. Gary was smiling and thanking the doctor. Shaking his hand. Jimmy breathed out when he realised he had been holding his breath.

'Thank God…' he murmured.

Elliott suddenly hugged the doctor, catching him off guard. He smiled and gently pried her off, handing her back to Gary. She gripped tightly onto Gary's arm, tears sliding down her cheeks. It broke Jimmy's heart to see her there, out of his reach. But the damage had been done now. Elliott wasn't his anymore.

The doctor nodded to something that Gary said and led them out of the waiting room. Elliott followed him without seeing Jimmy, but Gary hesitated in the doorway to look towards him. Still not noticing Jimmy, Elliott slipped her hand in Gary's squeezing it and nodding for him to follow her. Gary held Jimmy's gaze a moment longer and then moved along the corridor with Elliott.

Jimmy watched as they disappeared into the ER, and then went into the waiting room and sat down, waiting for them to come back.

* * *

Reese's face would have disappeared completely against the white pillow behind his head if it hadn't been for the bruises around his eyes and the thick gash that ran from the corner of his mouth to his jaw. He had been lucky, the doctor had said. If the car had been going even a tiny bit faster it could have killed him. A few broken bones and a little internal bleeding was what he had been left with, and the doctor was confident that he would make a full recovery.

Apart from the grisly facial scar he was going to be left with.

Elliott sat by his bed, clutching tightly onto his small, pale hand. Her face was as white as his, both her eyes ringed with purple from exhaustion. Her head throbbed and her hands felt shaky but she refused to leave his side no matter how much Gary had tried to talk her into shutting her eyes for a little while. Finally he had given in and agreed to get her another coffee. Her sixth since arriving.

Elliott glanced up as the door opened. She knew it wasn't Gary because he hadn't been gone long enough. She wasn't surprised to see Jimmy edging in, gently closing the door behind him. He lingered there for a moment before tentatively moving forward. He said nothing, only looked sadly at the young boy in the bed.

'I want to start over,' Elliott said in a quiet, tired voice. She looked down to Reese and pushed his hair from his face. 'As soon as he's well enough to go home we're just going to forget about it all and start again.' She smiled a broken smile, her bottom lip wavering a little. 'I'm going to study hard and get a proper job and make some real money. We're going to get out of New Coventry and Reese is going to go to a decent school…'

Jimmy shifted uncomfortably. 'Well, you know the offer still stands if you both want to come and live with me.'

Elliott looked at him sadly. 'I just want to start over.' She told him. 'On my own. You understand that, don't you?'

Jimmy looked down, rubbing the back of his neck. 'Sure. Yeah.' He replied quietly.

Elliott watched him for a moment. 'I do love you, Jimmy. And I'm so grateful for everything you've done for us. Really I am. I'll owe you forever I just… It's been ten years, Jimmy. If we were going to settle down we would have done it by now. I can't keep going on like that. Reese needs structure and I need to concentrate on getting a job…'

'I understand,' Jimmy told her. 'I do. It's fine.'

'It's nothing to do with Gary.' Elliott assured him. 'I told him the same thing.'

This didn't seem to make Jimmy feel any better. He nodded again. 'Yeah. I understand.'

She stood up and moved towards him. She hesitated before hugging him. He hugged her back tightly. 'You can still come around for your dinner,' she said, half laughing. 'Because I know you'll probably starve without someone feeding you.'

Jimmy laughed, moving back. 'I'm sure I'll find a way around it.'

Elliott smiled at him, but it only accentuated her exhaustion. 'Thank you, Jimmy.' She told him. 'For everything. And thanks for putting up with me for so long.'

'Stop it. It'll probably see you all the time anyway. You life two minutes from the garage and Bullworth isn't big enough for you to avoid me.'

Elliott laughed. 'I guess you're right.' She hesitated and then half smiled again, before wiping at her eyes. 'Christ I feel like I've just woken up in the gutter.' She said. 'Excuse me, I'm going to go and shatter the mirror in the bathroom.'

Jimmy nodded and smiled, allowing her to get as far as the bathroom door before turning around. 'You said you want to forget about this,' he said, frowning slightly. 'What about catching whoever's responsible?'

Elliott shook her head slightly, opening the door. 'I don't care,' she replied. 'As long as he's okay.' She paused thoughtfully. 'I know that car was meant for me and Gary. I know it was probably Johnny.' She smiled weakly and then disappeared into the bathroom, gently closing the door behind her.

Jimmy stayed where he was for a moment, watching the closed door, and then turned and looked to the bed. He was surprised to see Reese looking at him through bruised eyelids.

'Hey.' Reese said in a weak, croaky voice.

Jimmy smiled and walked to the bedside. 'Hey, Reese. How're you feeling?'

Reese swallowed and grimaced. 'Okay I guess,' he replied. 'If okay is the same as feeling like you just fell off a cliff.'

Jimmy patted him gently. 'You'll be fine, kiddo. The doctor's said you were lucky, but I knew you'd be okay. You did one hell of a somersault over that car bonnet.'

Reese laughed and then winced. He hissed in pain for a moment before looking back to Jimmy. When he spoke he was barely audible, and Jimmy had to lean forward a little to hear him. 'I know it was Peanut in the car.' He whispered.

Jimmy nodded. 'Yeah. Me too.' He replied, also in a whisper.

'You're not going to say anything, are you Jimmy?' Reese asked, looking desperate. 'Cos Peanut looked so scared. I know he didn't mean it. Peanut wouldn't hurt anyone like that anyway. I don't want him getting locked up or anything.'

Jimmy smiled and nodded. 'It's okay. I won't tell if you don't want me to.'

Reese nodded. 'Cool.' He sat quietly for a moment. 'Everything's gonna be different now, isn't it?'

Jimmy hesitated. 'Yeah.' He replied. 'Probably.'

Reese smacked his lips thoughtfully. He said nothing for a moment and then frowned slightly. 'You'll still let me get my bike hooked up at the garage for free though, right?'

Jimmy looked at him and laughed. 'Sure, Reese.' He nodded. 'Anything for you.'


	24. A Clean Slate

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**A Clean Slate**

'Mom, come on. I'm not a baby. I don't need you to walk me into town.'

'I'm not walking you. I'm headed in that direction anyway so it makes sense for us to walk together. You wouldn't leave your poor mother to walk through New Coventry on her own, would you?'

Reese rolled his eyes and exhaled loudly, slowing down his quick pace to fall into step beside her. 'No.' he droned, miserably.

Elliott smiled and ruffled his hair. 'There's a good boy. And slow down a bit, I can't keep up in these heels.'

Reese turned his head around to her, screwing up the corner of his nose to examine her outfit. 'Well if you can't walk in them why do you wear them?'

'I'm a receptionist now, Reese,' Elliott said with an air of smugness. 'If I roll into the office in sweats like I did at the café they won't even let me leave the revolving doors. I'll do a perfect three-sixty and be back out on the street.'

Reese still looked unconvinced. 'You could have at least wore those flat shoes.' He said, losing interest.

Elliott pouted and looked down at her shoes. 'But they don't make clicky noises.'

'Uh-huh,' Reese mumbled, now completely tuned out. He glanced across the street and immediately his eyes lit up. 'Hey, the garage is open! I didn't think they opened until ten!'

Elliott followed his gaze to see that the garage was indeed open and the sound of clanging was echoing somewhere inside. Reese hopped in front of her, eyes wide.

'Can I go say hi?' he asked excitedly.

Elliott glanced at her watch. 'Well…' she said, faking indecisiveness.

Reese saw right through her and smiled. 'I'll be real quick.' He told her, and then hurried off across the road without looking.

'Careful!' Elliott yelled after him.

He ignored her and carried on. Thankfully there were no cars on the road, but Elliott still mentally cursed Reese for still not looking both ways. She thought that being hit by a car would teach him some major lessons in road safety, but apparently it hadn't. She checked the road and followed him across to the garage.

It had been eight months since the accident and she was still surprised at how quickly he had recovered. His bones had healed, but he still had a nasty reminder of that night in the form of a pink scar that ran from the corner of his mouth to his jaw. Elliott had cried over it for days, but Reese had been quite proud of it. He became even prouder when he gained a new respect from the Blue Skies kids. He said they would never mess with him now. The important thing was that he had healed and he was healthy. And that lessons had been learnt on all sides.

Elliott stopped at the garage door, not wanting to go in any further in case she got oil on her new skirt. The last thing she wanted was to walk into her new job in stained clothes. Reese had jumped on Johnny from behind and was now bouncing around asking what he was doing. Johnny, as usual, told him none of his business and then continued to roughhouse with him. Elliott watched, one eye narrowed and a wan smile on her face. She had never found out who had been driving the car that night, but she had always assumed it had been Johnny. She never voiced her suspicions though, but she knew Johnny had figured that out. Still, he didn't mention it. It wouldn't make any difference now.

'Elliott, hey.'

Elliott glanced around to the sound of Jimmy's voice, smiling, and saw him approaching her in dirty coveralls. He had oil on his cheek and all over his hands. 'Hold up there,' Elliott told him, raising her hands. 'Don't come any closer. I'm staying clean.'

Jimmy smiled. 'I can see why,' he replied. 'What are you all smartened up for?'

Elliott smiled proudly. 'First day.' She reported. 'So I don't want to get marks all over me, thank you very much.'

'It's today?' Jimmy asked, surprised. 'I thought you weren't starting until next week?'

'They asked me to start today because the last girl walked out when she found out she had been replaced. Apparently she didn't even know I was going to be taking her job. Doesn't put the place in good light but… meh, at least it's better than scrubbing plates and making coffee.'

'Well that's great. I hope it goes okay.'

'Me too.' Elliott nodded, smiling. 'But I'll probably screw up at some point. Oh, and I brought you these.' She reached into her bag and pulled out a plastic box. 'I knew Reese would want to call in and see you lot, so I made you sandwiches.'

Jimmy laughed, taking them. 'Thanks. Good to see this new career hasn't gone to your head.'

'Oh in a couple of weeks it will be chicken wraps and other weird sandwich substitutions.' Elliott waved a hand dismissively and glanced over to Reese and Johnny. They had stopped roughhousing and Johnny was pointing something out on an engine that sat on one of the workbenches. 'Don't get him covered in oil, Johnny!' she called over.

Johnny glanced around and nodded in acknowledgement. Reese just shot her an irritated look and turned away again.

'Has Gary got him today then?' Jimmy asked, watching Reese for a little longer.

'Yeah,' Elliott replied. 'No idea what they're going to do. But at least Gary is working now so I don't have to give him money so they don't have to sit in his apartment all day.'

Jimmy made an indifferent sound and nodded. 'It's about time.'

Just then Peanut walked into the garage carrying three coffees in a cardboard tray. He stopped at the sight of Elliott and blinked at her for a moment silently. Elliott smiled at him.

'Hi, Peanut,' she said. 'You okay?'

Peanut blinked again and then nodded. 'Uh, yeah. Fine.' His eyes flicked between her and Jimmy and then he scurried by with his head down. Jimmy watched him go, faint frown on his face.

'He's gotten so weird lately.' Elliott commented quietly, and then chuckled. 'He's been spending too much time in here. He needs a girlfriend.'

Peanut set the coffees down and quickly headed for the office, but Reese seized him and pulled him towards Johnny, pointing at the engine and asking questions. Elliott and Jimmy watched them for a moment.

'Well,' Elliott sighed, looking at her watch. 'We better go. Better get there early and make a good impression.'

'I'm glad you got the job, Elle,' Jimmy smiled. 'I'm happy for you.'

Elliott smiled warmly at him. 'Thanks, Jimmy.' She said sincerely. 'It means a lot.'

Jimmy nodded, looking awkward. 'Well, thanks for the sandwiches.'

'Don't worry, they're not poisoned.' Elliott winked, and then turned to Reese. 'Come on! Time's up!'

Reese groaned loudly. 'Five minutes!'

'No, now! Don't make me lose my job before I've even started. Get a move on.'

Reese slumped his shoulders and rolled his eyes. He waved bye to Johnny and Peanut and trudged over to her. 'You don't even start for half an hour.' He muttered.

Elliott put her hand on his shoulder and directed him outside. 'I'll see you later, Jimmy.' She smiled.

'See you.' Jimmy half waved.

'Bye guys!' Reese called as Elliott marched him out. 'I'll bring my bike down again tomorrow, okay?'

Elliott pushed him out, casting a quick smile towards Johnny and Peanut, and urged him to walk up the street towards the underpass. Reese started telling her about the engine but she didn't understand a word of what he said. She had never understood mechanics. So she nodded and feigned interest as they headed up towards Shiny Bikes where Gary would be waiting for them.

Gary had gotten an apartment above the store a month or so after the accident. It wasn't perfect but he said it was big enough for him. And plus it was close to New Coventry, meaning Reese could go around when he pleased. Elliott hadn't really seen much of him over the past few months, but she hadn't really seen much of Jimmy either. She had wanted to keep away from them for a little while. But now she was getting everything back together it wasn't as painful to see them.

Still, it was a little.

Gary was leaning against the red garage by the side of the store, distracted by something the other way up the street. He glanced around as they approached and straightened up, pushing his hands in his pockets. Reese grinned and waved.

'Hey, dad!' he called.

'Hey, Reese.' Gary smiled back. He glanced to Elliott and nodded to her. 'Hi.'

Reese glanced to the bike shop. 'Can I go look inside?' he asked Gary.

Gary nodded. 'Knock yourself out.'

Reese turned to Elliott and waved a hand. 'I'll see you later, mom.' He began to head away but stopped and turned back. 'Have a good first day!' he added, and then dashed away inside the shop.

Elliott laughed a little. 'He can't wait to get away from me today.'

'You're starting that new job today then?' Gary asked, eyeing her with a faint smile.

'Yup,' Elliott replied. 'Touch wood I don't mess up.'

'You'll be fine,' Gary told her.

'Touch wood.' Elliott repeated, laughing awkwardly.

Gary regarded her for a moment. 'What time do you finish? Because you could meet up with us afterwards. I was going to take him to the pizza place. Not fancy, I know, but there's no way I'm sitting in the Vale.'

'Reese isn't going to want me hanging around and nagging him on his day out with you,' Elliott told him. 'It's the only break he gets.'

Gary shrugged. 'Well, I'd kind of like you hanging around and nagging us.' He half smiled. 'If you want to.'

Elliott couldn't help but blush. She pushed her hair aside and glanced away. 'Another time, maybe.' She told him.

Gary cocked an eyebrow. 'Is Thursday okay?'

Half laughing, Elliott looked back to him. 'I'll think about it.'

'So that's a yes?'

'It's a maybe.'

Gary half nodded, smirking. 'Right. I'll hold you to that.'

Elliott smirked back at him. 'Well I better go. You'll drop him off at about six, yeah?'

'Something like that.' Gary nodded. He began to walk around to the front of the bike shop with her.

'Good,' she replied, still feeling a little flustered. 'Well, have a nice day and everything. Don't let him run riot, please.'

'I won't.' Gary chuckled. 'And good luck.'

'Thanks.' Elliott stood beside him for a moment. 'Well… bye.'

He laughed and nodded. 'See you.'

She headed away quickly, heels clicking noisily on the pavement. She felt a little self-conscious as she walked away as she knew he was watching her, but she felt better as she moved away.

'Thursday!' Gary called after her. 'Don't forget!'

Elliott just laughed quietly, shaking her head. He was persuasive, she would give him that. Maybe she would take him up on it. After all, this was the beginning of a clean slate for her and Reese. Maybe it was time to give Gary a chance.

Elliott pushed the thoughts of her mind and carried on towards her new job, hoping that she had remembered to put a pen in her bag. No one likes a receptionist who doesn't have a pen.

* * *

**A/N:** Boring, weird ending? Yas, methinks so xD Sorry, but I started losing interest in this story and I had to finish it. I hope you still enjoyed it though, even if I do majorly suck at writing angst and drama. I'd never make it on a TV soap writing team lol. Anyways thank you to everyone who reviewed, Tinkies, Little Loki, rockshocka4223, likeapuppetonlydumber, Reine Snow and everyone else who is awesome :D

And there's another sequel coming (lol, will it ever end!!?) It's back in Bullworth Academy (thank god) and little Reese is going to be mooching in through those big ol' iron gates. All the students will be OCs and some siblings of game characters and the like, but don't let that put you off :p The faculty will be the same and everything. I'm writing it the same way as the game is set out, with about 6 parts (first part about the bullies, second about the preps etc) and about 15 chapters in each part. Yas it's going to be VERY long lol. Anyway, look out for it. It should be up in the next couple of days and will be called 'Bully: Anguis In Herba' (brownie points to anyone who knows the translation xD)


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